This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

Surviving the Holocaust: The Death March

The Allies close in around the labor 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 .

Hitler’s Third Reich began to crumble all around the Nazis as the Allies began to assault Germany. But this did not stop the cruelty of the Nazis.

“Why don’t we hide in the attic of the barracks until everyone evacuates the camp?” Silberberg asked his father.

Find out what's happening in Aliso Viejowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“They will definitely demolish the place. If we hide in there, we will die too,” his father said.

Moments later, Nazis began to destroy every building in the camp. One of the first was the crematorium that burned the bodies of thousands of people. It also was connected to the same barrack that Silberberg wanted to hide in.

Find out what's happening in Aliso Viejowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Everyone gather together. We are taking you somewhere safe,” the commander of the camp yelled over the loudspeakers. “Anyone found hiding will be shot on the spot.”

All of the prisoners of the camp gathered in the assembly plaza. Silberberg knew that what was to come would be treacherous. He snuck into a food warehouse and stole some bread and butter. He hid it inside his sweater so the S.S. guards would not see it.

***

January 1945

Silberberg did everything he could to hide the half-loaf of bread that he stole from the warehouse.

“My father and I had to tie up all our provisions with string so that no one would see,” said Silberberg. “If we didn’t, the Germans would have punished us or another prisoner would have stolen our food.”

The Nazis began to assemble everyone into rows, with five prisoners per  row. Every 50th row had an S.S. guard to oversee it.

“As we began to march, I noticed how horrible the wooden soles of some prisoners’ shoes were,” Silberberg said. “As they walked, they began to wobble because of the snow that gathered inside. The only thing that helped keep the other prisoners stable was their shackles.”

As the prisoners began to march, the guards ensured that they kept pace. Anyone who fell behind was mauled by the attack dogs that the guards kept on leashes.

“The guards took great pleasure when they released the hounds on us,” Silberberg said. “You definitely had to be a psychopath to be in the SS.”

The march continued on, and anyone who collapsed was left to die in the snow. Those who needed to relieve themselves they had to do so quickly and run back to the column or be mauled be one of the attack dogs.

As Silberberg continued to march in the snow, he noticed the traffic on the road.

“I saw columns of German troops heading east to fight the Russians,” he said. “But the civilians were heading to the western front toward where the Americans fought.”

Then the group came upon a deserted city. They stopped at a barn. The Nazis ordered everyone inside.

“We were jammed in there like a pack of sardines,” Silberberg said. “Luckily, my father and I found a stack of hay to sit down at. We had to be really quiet when we ate our provisions, otherwise the other prisoners might hear us and we would have our food stolen from us.”

The next day would be one that Silberberg would never forget. As the Nazis began to march the prisoners out of the barn, the weather was freezing outside. Conditions were so miserable that some of the prisoners instantly collapsed.

“I knew I had to find a plan of escape,” said Silberberg. “So many people died on the march that I was assured a new blanket every day that we continued.”

Silberberg’s chance to escape would present itself at the next stop, where a group of Hitler Youth would provide him that chance.

Check back Friday for more of Silberberg's story.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?