Arbeit macht frei: - Fredrick Töben

Everyone had to be present at the roll call, the sick, too. Even those
who were ill with scarlet fever or pneumonia had to be there. All the
stricken internees who could not stand were laid on a blanket in the first
row, next to the dead. Everyone had to be present: there were absolutely
no exceptions, not even for the dead.>We had a few very young inmates, many practically children, in our
camp. They were required to appear at the roll calls. Permitted to live a
while by the Germans, these little girls, thirteen or fourteen years old,
shared all the hardships of the camp life. And yet, they were privileged
compared to the Jewish children of the same age, who were immediately
sent to the gas chambers.>The treatment which the children received was unbelievable. For the
punishment they were forced to kneel for hours at a time, sometimes
with their faces turned toward the broiling sun, sometimes with stones
on their heads, at other times holding a brick in each hand. No more
than skin and bones, these children were dirty, starved, ragged, and
barefoot. They were a pitiful sight.>Yet there was a certain wildness in Mengele’s eyes that made one
easy. During the selections he never said a word. He merely sat whistling
to himself while he pointed his thumb either to the right or to the left,
thus indicating to which group the selectees were to go. Though he was
making decisions that meant extermination, he was as pleasantly smug as
any man could be.>In addition to the roll calls, there was also what was called a
‘Zahlappel,’ which took place inside the barracks. Suddenly, the
building would be isolated and the chief S.S. physician, assisted by a
woman doctor, who was in charge of the deportees, herself an internee,
would march in and proceed to make additional selections. The women
were ordered to divest themselves completely of their rags. Then, with
their arms in the air, they marched past Dr. Mengele. What he could
have seen in these wasted figures I cannot imagine. But he picked his
victims. They were made to climb into a truck and were taken away, still
entirely nude. Each time, this spectacle was both tragic and humiliating.
Humiliating not only for the poor sacrifices, but for all humanity. For
these destitute souls now being driven to the slaughterhouses were
human beings–like you and me.>Two barracks had been turned into washrooms. Across each building
two metal pipes ran, carrying water to the taps, which were placed about
forty inches apart. Beneath the pipes was a sort of trough intended to
catch the water. Most of the times there was no water at all…Every day a
dense crowd swarmed outside the building. This herd of dirty, evilsmelling
women inspired a profound disgust in their company and even
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