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Politics & Government

Surviving the Holocaust: Forming Two Lines

After moving from city to city, the Silberbergs are captured and transferred to a concentration camp.

Writer's note: Sam Silberberg spoke at Soka University on April 14. His story was extraordinary, and I was given the chance to interview him at his home in Laguna Woods. His story of survival and tragedy will be told through a multi-part series on Aliso Viejo Patch. View the previous story .
Disclaimer: The following chapter of Silberberg's experience includes graphic and disturbing events.

Silberberg and his father argued back and forth during their time at the Annaberg labor camp. The topic was always God and his will toward the Jewish people. 

Silberberg recalled this conversation:

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“How can God put us in such a situation?” Silberberg asked his father.

“Have faith, my son. Just have hope, and eventually we will get out of this hell,” his father said.

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“What use is it? I’d rather die than help these Nazis for another day with my body,” said Silberberg.

“Forget about faith. I’ll put it into terms that you can learn from,” his father said. “There were two flies that were caught in a glass of milk: an optimist and a pessimist. When the pessimist fell in, he gave up and drowned shortly after falling in. But the optimist never gave up. He flapped his wings and thrashed about so hard he eventually turned the milk into butter and flew away.”

Silberberg, amused with the story, took it to heart and decided to keep fighting and give up by not committing suicide.

***

Summer 1943

After moving from city to city, the Silberbergs were finally allowed to stay in Shrodula, a city in Poland. Life continued on. Silberberg would find a way out of the ghetto to trade and help support the family and fellow Jews who were stuck in the ghettos. A bunker was built in their new home. But then, the Nazis' “final solution” would soon hit the city.

One morning, Silberberg looked outside the window and saw two columns of German trucks, Panzers and armored personnel carriers driving into the city. Family members knew they had to do something, so they stuffed 24 people into the newly made bunker. The only way they could breathe inside was through a 3-inch pipe that sprouted up to the surface.

“From the bunker, we could feel the vibrations of the German armor as they moved into the city,” said Silberberg. “We only had enough supplies to last for a day with 14 people, not 24, so we had to improvise. We also heard of the Nazi plans to liquidate the city over the loudspeakers they had.”

Silberberg heard knocking on the floor upstairs. The Nazis barged in, looking for anyone in the family who was hiding out.

“I remember hiding under the floor and the Germans were upstairs,” said Silberberg. “They stomped on the floor as if they were proud of what they were doing. We were all terrified, of course.”

The Nazis left as a baby began to cry inside the bunker. She covered its mouth with a blanket so the Nazis wouldn’t hear it. This turned out to be a fatal choice. She covered the baby for far too long and ended up suffocating it in the process. The woman broke down crying. The Silberbergs tried to calm her down, but it was too late. Axes started ripping into the bunker,  and the Nazis caught them.

Nazi soldiers dragged them to the transport center. The Jews would be headed to the dreaded Auschwitz extermination camp.

“It was a long line resembling a funeral procession,” said Silberberg. “What most people didn’t know then was that they were going to their own funeral.”

The Silberbergs were ushered into two lines—one for the able-bodied workers who were to become slaves, and the other line for the women, children and elderly who would be put to death. Silberberg was put in the line where he would meet certain death. However, his quick thinking helped him keep his life.

“I was in the line with my mother and my brother Banek. I knew I had to escape or I would be killed,” said Silberberg. “I looked around, and I saw one of the Nazis ripping a newborn baby from its mother's breast. He tore off its arm then threw it on the ground as it were a piece of trash. It was horrifying, but I knew I had to do something to stay alive. Then I quickly jumped into the same line my father was in.”

Silberberg’s heart sank as he knew that some of his family would be transported to the death camp, including his mother and brother. The family was down to 89 people.

As the two lines parted ways, all of the able-bodied workers were lined up,  and an S.S. guard presided over all of them. He asked each one what his trade was, to gauge his usefulness. Silberberg, who was 12 at the time, was short and had to act fast to trick the guard.

“I was way in the back, and I grabbed a cinderblock to stand on to fool the guard,” he said. “He asked my father, ‘What is your profession?’ and he responded, ‘A mason.’ Then eventually it was my turn, and he asked me what I did. I told him I was a mason’s assistant. Then the crowd dispersed, and I couldn’t believe that it actually worked.”

The two were transported off to the Annaberg labor camp, where they would become slaves for the Nazis.

***

Check back Tuesday for more of Silberberg's story.

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