introduced from below. It was a horrible holocaust; many
went insane, and the screaming of the tortured was harrowing
and heartbreaking. From time to time the freight car was left
standing for hours in the boiling heat of the sun. Terrifying
scenes occurred and those of us who got away from it are
haunted daily with the memory.
“Perhaps your husband did not have to suffer very long. He
soon started to recite Psalms with a loud voice and his face
was like that of an angel. He begged the other victims to make
their peace with God, and to seek Salvation through the blood
of Christ before it was too late. And some did so. Then he
dropped to the floor, and fell asleep never to wake up again.
During the night, at a small station in the Moldau, the cars
were opened and the bodies fell out. It was supposed that all
had been suffocated on this mortal journey. But six of us men
who had only been unconscious were injured when our bodies
fell out, and recovered consciousness. We were revived with
hypodermics and some nourishment was given us; then we
were forced to bury our dead comrades in a mass grave. At
that occasion we found our beloved Mr. Feinstein. We digged
a special grave for him. Previously to that, we searched his
pocket to send you, if possible, his papers or anything else;
but he had nothing left, not even his watch. Everything had
been taken from him before. After that we had to do hard
labor in a camp with many others, and endured a pitiful
existence. Many times we regretted that life had been restored
to us. Now we have been brought back into this city, but no
good is awaiting us.”
So far the awful tale of those friends. A few days later they did
me the favor of witnessing in court of what they knew about
my husband; so I was enabled to receive the death certificate.
Without that paper we would have never been granted a
passport and would not have been able to leave the country.
In that way, the death of your beloved father made possible your
34 | Never Again: A Holocast Remembered