Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Religious Studies – Anthology
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The SS seemed more preoc c upied, more worried, than usual. To hang a c hild
in front of thousands of onlookers was not a small matter. The head of the c amp
read the verdict. All eyes were on the child. He was pale, almost calm, but he was
bit ing his lips as he st ood in the shadow of the gallows.
T his t ime, t he Lagerkapo refused to act as executioner. Three SS took his
plac e.
The three c ondemned prisoners together stepped onto the c hairs. In unison,
the nooses were placed around their necks.
"Long live libert y!" shout ed the two men.But the boy was silent.
"Where is merciful God, where is He?" someone behind me was asking.At the signal, the three chairs were tipped over.
Total silenc e in the c amp. On the horizon, the sun was setting.
"Caps off!" screamed the Lagerälteste. His voice quivered. As for the rest of us, we
were weeping.
"Cover your heads!"Then came the march past the victims. The two men were no longer alive. Their
tongues were hanging out, swollen and bluish. But the third rope was still moving:
t he c hild, t oo light , was st ill breat hing...
And so he remained for more than half an hour, lingering between life and
death, writhing before our eyes. And we were forced to look at him at close range.
He was st ill alive when I passed him. His t ongue was st ill red, his eyes not yet
extinguished.
Behind me, I heard the same man asking:"For God's sake, where is God?"
And from within me, I heard a voic e answer:"Where He is? This is where—hanging here from this gallows...”That night, the soup tasted of c orpses.
Page 66-68
T HE SUMMER was c oming to an end. The Jewish year was almost over. On the eve
of Rosh Hashanah, the last day of that cursed year, the entire camp was agitated
and every one of us felt the tension. After all, this was a day unlike all others. The
last day of the year. T he word "last " had an odd ring t o it. What if it really were t he
last day?
The evening meal was distributed, an espec ially thic k soup, but nobody
touched it. We wanted to wait until after prayer. On the Appelplatz, surrounded by
elec t rified barbed wire, thousands of Jews, anguish on their fac es, gathered in
silenc e.