Night Diary Entries

Chapter 6

Dear Diary,

One week later after the raid, a dark gallow stood in the middle of the camp. Roll call was unusually harsher and longer for that day.

An SS unit surrounded us, one every three feet, and two of the SS held up a young boy from Warsaw. The SS ensnared the man within the clutches of the gallows facing the head of the camp.

All we had to hear from the Lageralteste was that he "is condemned to death." The masses grew silent and I could feel my blood rise.

The man tried to scream an outcry in failure as he was shot for stealing during the air raid. 

Survival was all that mattered to me then and to survive I must eat. The soup urged me to forget about the man and to survive. 

After being dismissed to go to our block, I remember that the soup tasted better than ever before.

Again and again, more bodies were hanged, each with a corresponding person who cried at their execution.

 He was a beloved young pipel who was normally hated by all. The pipel worked for his Oberkapo and remained silent about their convictions.

In the middle of the camp, there were three dark gallows, one for each of the convicted.

In respect, the Lagerkapo refused to execute the little pipel and the SS took his place.

The crowds of people began to question the act, but the chairs were tipped over on cue.

During the march around the gallows, I learned that the two men were dead, but the little pipel remained moving for what felt like hours until he finally passed the Angel of Death.

His strength in death opened my eyes. The German Nazis had taken a new minimum for their acts of "justice."

That day, the soup tasted bitter.

Elie