Never Again! Part 1

There's an old two word adage which simply says, (or reads)

... Never Again!

Of course, this slogan refers to the Holocaust; of which, some STUPIDLY refuse to believe ever occurred, in spite of the overwhelming literary, photographic and eye witness evidence to the contrary. (My own uncle, an American soldier in WWII, helped liberate one of the camps, and saw the desecration with his own eyes).

I was watching a PBS special last night relating to one concentration camp, in particular, in which a teenage survivor, now in her 80's, escorted a couple of young ladies through what is now left of the WWII Nazi facility; where thousands of Jews, Gypsies, Homosexuals, "enemies of the state" and "non-desirables" were held.

As the trio approach each additional building or site, Kitty explains its function. She relates how, in the most primitive of de-humanizing environments, that the internees were reduced to three major needs:

"A need for shelter. A need for food. And a place to shit."

(Sorry, but this is her exact quote).

Kitty reveals things which she has, perhaps, kept to herself for decades; most notably how that her mother consistently protected her from the most heinous of possible circumstances and outcomes.

Whereas, as a strong young lady she might have been put to work breaking rocks for roads, laying railroad track, etc., a calorie-burning, fat-reducing fate which led to almost certain death, rather she was employed in the lady's latrine; the result of her Polish mother's fluency in the German language, and her ability to converse with, and manipulate the guards. She mentions that while scooping out the "intestinal discharge" of hundreds of women from beneath dozens of holes cut into a wooden plank may seem anything but pleasant, or desirable, 

... it kept her alive.

Inside, warm and with the ability to conserve life-preserving calories.

They continue to walk, and Kitty points out the "shower room;" a long, shotgun style building with bars on the windows.

"The guards would herd dozens of prisoners into the facility, and instruct them to hang their clothing on hooks, with the admonition, 'Remember where you put your clothes, so you can retrieve them after your shower.'"

Of course, the women weren't there for a shower.

(To be continued)

By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from "(Mc)Donald's Daily Diary" Vol. 13

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