Original subtitles

Dad, you had to have been doing something

when Kennedy was shot.

I was.

I was at the dentist.

Were you having a tooth pulled,

one of those root canals,

false teeth, anything?

I was a kid.

I was having my teeth cleaned.

The same teeth I still have today.

What?

I have to get up in front of my whole class and talk,

and you've given me nothing I'd want to tell anyone.

Not even that I still have the same teeth?

Oh, brother.

I thought you could choose any historical moment

to talk about.

Dad, what's more historical than the moment JFK was shot?

It's the world's greatest

"Where were you when?" question, and I invented it.

It's been asked before, Simon.

Not by anyone in my class.

Dad, you know, I think I'm gonna wait in the car

since this is church business.

Mrs. Kerjesz doesn't go to our church,

so this isn't church business, it's neighbor business,

so let's just get out of the car, shall we?

Dad, she's always giving me stuff I don't want.

Last time we were here, she gave me a ball of string.

You can always use a ball of string.

Get out.

She saves everything.

Well, nothing wrong with not being wasteful.

In fact, some people consider it a virtue.

Oh, sorry about that.

I wasn't sure if you heard the doorbell.

Oh, it's all right, Reverend.

I was in the back. Come in.

Simon, how are you?

Come in. Come in.

So how can I help you, Mrs. Kerjesz?

I want to ask a small favor.

On Wednesday,

could you possibly drive some of my friends and me

to the Farmers Market?

The gentleman that usually drives us is going

to be in the hospital for a small surgery.

Sure, I'd be happy to.

Of course, I didn't want you to come by

just to ask you a favor.

I have something for the boy.

I happen to like a certain frosted cereal

that is giving a new Red Lightning ring.

I love Red Lightning.

I know. You told me, and I didn't forget.

I saved the boxtops for you

so you could send in for it.

How about that, huh? Red Lightning.

Cool. Totally cool.

I put the boxtops

right...

here. Oh, here.

Here they are.

There you two... you two go now.

You have things to do and so do I.

I'll see you Wednesday. What time?

12:00 is early enough. Good-bye.

Mrs. Kerjesz seemed to be

in a bit of a hurry there, didn't she?

Yeah, no kidding.

I wonder what that was about.

I don't know.

Unless it had something to do with those numbers on her arm.

What numbers?

You know, it was... it was right here.

I wonder why she would have a tattoo.

And a number tattoo at that.

We'll talk about it when we get home.

♪ 7th Heaven ♪

♪ When I see their happy faces ♪

♪ Smiling back at me ♪

♪ 7th Heaven ♪

♪ I know there's no greater feeling ♪

♪ Than the love of family ♪

♪ Where can you go ♪

♪ When the world don't treat you right? ♪

♪ The answer is home ♪

♪ That's the one place that you'll find ♪

♪ 7th Heaven ♪

♪ Mmm, 7th Heaven ♪

♪ 7th Heaven. ♪

But how did Hitler get everyone to hate the Jews?

There were a lot of problems

in Germany at the time

and Hitler got everyone to hate Jewish people

by blaming every problem in Germany on them.

People were hungry... Hitler blamed the Jews.

People were poor and didn't have jobs...

Hitler blamed the Jews.

Why did everyone believe him?

Simple answer:

because it's easier to blame than take responsibility,

and Hitler used one of the most effective

propaganda campaigns ever created.

He convinced people

that there was a struggle going on

between all the races in the world

and that the Jews were trying

to dominate everybody so they

had to be... eliminated.

You mean killed?

Yeah.

Simon, his intent was to kill every person

on Earth who was Jewish.

He had other people

in the concentration camps killed

who he considered enemies of Germany...

Gypsies, Serbs,

Polish intellectuals, beggars, homosexuals,

Jehovah's Witnesses.

Anyone and everyone who opposed the Nazis,

but he singled out the Jews for extinction.

Six million Jewish people

were gassed... or shot...

or starved.

Unbelievable.

How did Hitler die?

When he knew Germany was defeated, he shot himself,

then he had someone pour gasoline over him

and set him on fire.

And he died like hundreds of thousands

of people he'd had killed.

But how come no one stopped him?

Why didn't the rest of the world just go in

and rescue those people?

Why didn't people do something to help them?

That's a very good question, Simon.

People around the world didn't want to believe it.

They didn't want to believe that something

so horrible existed

because then they'd have to feel guilty

for not doing anything about it,

or they were too afraid to try to do something

or they didn't know what to do, or,

at worst... some didn't care.

And you never knew Mrs. Kerjesz was in a concentrations camp?

Oh, there were... there were times

when I suspected that maybe she was.

How come you didn't ask her about it?

It's just not something you ask about, son.

If she wanted me to know,

she would've found a way to tell me.

It had to have been a horrible... horrible experience

for many survivors who lost all their family members

in those camps.

But maybe it'll be good for her to talk about it.

No, no. No.

I know what you're thinking, and no.

You're not going to ask Mrs. Kerjesz anything

just so you can do an oral history report for school.

But if she wanted to?

Again, and for the last time, I hope,

if she wanted to, she would have,

so you can discuss this all you want with me,

but not with Mrs. Kerjesz.

If she brought it up?

She's not going to bring it up.

That's why she rushed us out of her house.

Move on, Simon.

Mom, what were you doing when JFK was shot?

I was at the market with my mom.

Mom, you want to get them out of here?

They're just hanging out so they can stare at Joanne.

Well, I wouldn't mind

getting a look at Joanne myself.

Why does everybody have to meet her?

What's the big deal?

It's the third date, that's the big deal.

She's also the first girl

you've dated since you broke up with Heather,

and that's the bigger deal.

And you like her,

and that's the biggest deal of all.

Who? Who do you like?

Joanne.

What are we doing?

We're all going to go upstairs and give Matt a little privacy,

that's what we're doing.

You, too, Dad. Oh. Me?

Have a nice evening.

Hold onto your hair.

Mom's going to go through the roof.

Big surprise. She's right on time.

Big surprise.

I just got a great idea.

Ruthie, wouldn't you like to meet

Matt's new girlfriend? Yeah.

So why don't you go down to the living room

and pretend to look for something.

Then Lucy and I will come down and look for you.

What should I look for?

Why don't you look for Hoowie?

Okay.

A great idea?

That was a brilliant idea!

Aaw! Aaw!

And who is this?

This would be my annoying little sister Ruthie

who's supposed to be upstairs.

I'm looking for Hoowie.

Hoowie?

Long story. Don't get involved.

Sorry to interrupt.

We'll just get Ruthie out of your way.

You sent me down here.

Hi. I'm Joanne.

You must be Matt's sisters.

I'm Lucy.

Mary.

Nice to meet you.

How about me?

Well, it is nice to meet you, too.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now all of you get out.

Matt, maybe they'd like

to go for a ride with us.

My dad and I fixed up an old Mustang.

You guys want to see it?

No, they don't,

but I'd love to. Good night.

Uh, maybe some other time.

Good night.

Hate her. Hate her.

Hate her.

Maybe some other time

I can show you my perfect little car.

Oh, it's so special.

I am so special.

Good night, good night.

I'd like you to come up to your room

with me right now.

It must be something big.

She didn't even notice we were here.

I'll get to you two later.

You told.

Like no one would have noticed that.

What were you trying to do here?

I was trying to draw a mule like the one we have at school.

I think you mean "mural."

What are the rules about drawing?

No drawing on the walls or the furniture

or the floors or anywhere but paper.

That's right,

so why break the rules if you know the rules?

I got bored, I guess.

Well, you're not going to be

bored much longer.

We're going to get

a bucket of water and wash the crayons

off the wall.

Do we have to? I like it.

Yes, we have to.

And I'm putting away

the crayons for a while.

No coloring, no pasting, no cutting for one week.

I didn't paste or cut anything. It's not fair.

I think it's plenty fair.

I hate you.

Hey. Are you okay?

No you're not okay. What's wrong?

Ruthie said that she hates me.

I'll go talk to her.

No, no, please don't.

Let me handle this my own way.

Hey, Camdens!

Look, perfect hair, even in a convertible.

She probably makes perfect grades, too.

She does.

She's going to Harvard next year on a scholarship.

Tell me about it.

"Hey, Camdens!"

What? Is she watching us?

Yep, and she's probably got perfect eyesight.

Mrs. Kovarsky, me, me, me, me, me, me!

Me!

Oh, Mrs. Kovarsky, me.

Oh, Mrs. Kovarsky, pick me.

Okay, Larry.

Tell us what topic you've come up with.

I'm going to ask my parents where they were

when President Kennedy was shot.

Show of hands...

How many of you chose that same topic?

Simon, you have something else?

Well, I was thinking

of getting this friend of mine, her name is Mrs. Kerjesz,

to tell me about being in a Nazi concentration camp.

Hmm.

Mm-hmm.

My grandmother was in

one of those camps, and she had numbers on her arm.

But I never got to hear her tell about it

'cause I was just a kid when she died.

Yeah.

Larry?

My dad says that stuff is all just a hoax.

There were no concentration camps.

Simon,

I think it's very important

to this class that you talk to your friend

and tell us her story.

If you can do that, I will guarantee you

an "A" on your oral presentation.

Don't worry, I'll get it.

Now...

I want the rest of you to try to put as much thought

into this as Simon has.

There's nothing wrong with your mother.

I know.

I got the bad news about dinner straight from the horse's mouth.

She's helping Ruthie get the crayon off the wall.

It's not pretty.

Ruthie's in full pout.

Where are you two going?

Hmm? For a walk.

I realize that. Where?

No place special.

Maybe we should just leave it.

No, we can't just leave it.

We have to work a little harder to get it off.

But I don't have time to do this.

I just got home from school, and I need to play.

You can play after we finish,

which is probably not going to be today.

This is a mess. But why can't you

just clean it up while I'm at school?

Because I didn't color the wall.

But I said I was sorry.

I know, but that didn't get the color off the wall.

Besides, I think we need

to spend a little more time together.

I think we need to spend a little more time apart.

Fine.

When you want my help, you let me know.

Hey, are you going down to help Dad with dinner?

No, I am taking the night off.

Oh, I was kind of hoping you were

since Joanne is coming for dinner.

But, you know, maybe tomorrow night would be better.

No, tonight will be fine.

I did everything.

He's just stirring and watching pots.

I'll keep an eye on things.

Oh, thank you,

thank you, thank you.

Thank you. Uh!

Hey, look where we are.

It's Mrs. Kerjesz's house.

Maybe we should drop by since we're in the neighborhood.

Mrs. Kerjesz?

Mrs. Kerjesz, you in there?

Mrs. Kerjesz, it's me, Simon, and my dog, Happy.

I just wanted to thank you for those cereal boxtops.

Okay, I'll be going now.

But if you ever need to talk about anything,

let me know.

I'm a really good listener.

I could come over any time.

The next couple days are really good for me.

I called Nigel, he hasn't seen Simon

and he has no idea where he is,

but he thinks there's probably a girl involved.

I walked around the block

and there was no sign of them.

Can you take over here,

and I'm going to drive around the neighborhood.

Yeah.

Oh.

Yeah.

Hi, Dad.

"Hi Dad"? I was just going looking for you.

I've been calling everywhere. Where have you been?

I was just walking Happy.

I guess we walked a little farther than I thought.

It's dark.

You know to be home before dark!

I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was dark...

until it was dark.

Simon, we were worried about you.

Don't ever do that again.

I won't. I promise.

I'm just glad you're okay.

Wait a minute.

You didn't, by any chance,

go over to Mrs. Kerjesz's house, did you?

I-I might have walked by there.

I just wanted to thank her

for the, uh, the cereal boxtops...

the Red Lightning ring, you know.

She wasn't home anyway.

Say something.

Don't worry, I've got plenty to say. Come on.

Hi.

Um, Mary, Lucy, if you'd like to pitch in

and help get dinner on the table,

we could all eat a little sooner.

Uh, how's dinner looking mom?

It looks just fine.

It is really a treat for me

to get a home-cooked meal.

Both my parents work,

so I usually just microwave something

and eat it by myself.

Oh, the poor thing, she usually eats by herself.

I'm just surprised she can microwave by herself.

Good one.

Whoo! Whoo!

Dinner's almost ready, sweetheart.

You'd better get washed up.

I think I'll just eat in my room, thank you, Daddy.

I think maybe you should eat with everybody else.

But I'll tell you what, I'll, uh...

I'll ask your mom and let her decide, okay?

Fine.

What's wrong with you?

I don't want to eat dinner with Mommy.

Why not?

Because she's mean.

She's making me wash the wall all day long

and all night long.

So? You colored on it.

So? I used to come home from school

and have cookies and milk.

Now she's just making me wash and wash.

She's just like that mean old stepmother

in Cinderella, only she's pretty.

Look, let me explain something to you, kid.

This is how the parent thing works.

You do something wrong,

and they punish you because they love you,

and they want to teach you a lesson.

For example, I just learned from Dad

that if I'm ever out after dark

visiting someone I'm not supposed to visit,

I'll be grounded until I graduate from high school.

It's not the same.

You did something bad,

you didn't have to do any punishment.

You didn't even get a time-out.

Still, I learned something.

Yeah, well, I learned something, too... I hate Mommy.

Whoa. You better think about that

before you say that out loud again.

Besides,

I know you don't mean it.

Why not? Mary and Lucy hate Joanne

and they mean it.

I hope Joanne's not going to do that

whole smiling thing through dinner.

I won't be able to eat

from the glare of her teeth

flashing in my eyes.

You think they're capped?

Ah, bleached, at the very least.

And she's probably had a boob job and her nose fixed.

Nobody can look that good without some serious help.

Underneath, she's probably as phony as her teeth.

Stay with us for the 7:00 report.

In local news, a boy is shot

when muling drugs for an older gang member.

In other news, an 83-year-old man

accidentally shoots and kills a delivery man

thinking he was an intruder.

And in world news tonight, another suicide bomb in Israel.

Stay with award-winning KZAB

for the best in local news coverage.

Honey, everybody's waiting for you to go to school.

Why are you still in your pajamas?

I'm sick.

It doesn't feel like you have a fever.

What hurts?

My arms hurt real bad.

I think it's from trying to wash the stuff off the wall.

I see. Yeah.

Well, that could be it.

Maybe you should just finish doing it.

You know,

when somebody does something wrong,

they need to take

responsibility for it,

whether the mistake is coloring on the walls

or saying something that isn't nice

or isn't true.

I think maybe you made a mistake

the other day and said something that you didn't mean,

and I was hoping that after

you thought about it, you'd apologize.

Do you remember when you said you hated me?

I know you hate being punished,

but saying that you hate me really hurt my feelings.

Get ready for school. I'll drive you.

Do we still have

to wash the wall when I get home?

Yes.

We went straight to the curb and back,

not a step more. I know.

I was watching out the window.

Dad, do you think you could talk to Mrs. Kerjesz

about her life and then tell me about it,

since I'm not allowed to ask her?

No, Simon, I don't.

You're just gonna have to pick another topic

for your oral history report, and that's final.

And if you go back there and bother Mrs. Kerjesz

about this again, mister, you're in big trouble.

I know.

It's just that...

Never mind.

No, no.

I wasn't being fair to you. What'd you want to tell me?

Well, there's this Larry kid in my class...

he says there never were any concentration camps.

And his dad told him

that all that stuff was just made up.

Larry's dad obviously has a problem.

If he can deny that what happened happened,

he's making that choice out of his own hatred.

I just can't understand anybody teaching their kid to do that.

I know.

So what should we do about it?

Hi.

Oh. Hi.

Um, I have to go.

I don't want to be late for class.

Wait, I thought you were gonna call me

when you got home last night.

Is something wrong? Yes.

Actually, there is something wrong,

but this may not be the best place to talk about it.

Okay, so where would be a good place to talk about it?

You know what, on second thought,

I'd like to drop it.

I like you, Matt,

but this isn't gonna work out.

What? Wh-Why not? I thought everything

was fine between us. Things are fine between us,

but things are not fine between your sisters and me.

My sisters? What are you talking about?

Mary and Lucy hate me.

I don't know why, but they do, they hate me.

No, they don't.

Where'd you get a crazy idea like that?

It is not a crazy idea, Matt, it's the truth.

Why would they hate you?

I don't know.

Maybe you should ask them.

This is nuts.

I have to go.

I-I'll...

I'll call you.

No. Really.

I don't have anything else to say.

Hi, Mrs. Kerjesz.

I understand that

Simon dropped by yesterday,

and I wanted to apologize if he disturbed you.

You know what he wanted?

He wanted to talk about something he saw

when you two were here the other day.

Can an innocent boy

like that

really understand my story?

Yes, I think he can, but...

I don't want to pressure you

if it's not something you talk about.

I talk about it.

I talk about it with my friends who are survivors.

We have a common background.

That gives us common ears.

We can hear each other.

Other people...

don't hear us so well... or not at all.

Sometimes...

a heart simply isn't strong enough

to hold the pain of another human being's suffering,

so the mind

can't fathom it.

You know what I mean?

Yeah, I know.

But I, uh...

didn't come here just to apologize for Simon.

I had a feeling.

I wanted to talk to you about something

that was said in Simon's class.

Hi.

Um, look, I know this is going to sound nuts,

but, uh, do you guys hate Joanne

for some reason?

Why do you ask?

Well, because Joanne just dumped me

because she thinks you two hate her.

We don't hate her.

No.

Yeah, I figured as much.

I guess I'm just on the rebound

and picked a flake to go out with.

What?

Nothing. It's just... I mean,

don't worry about it... It's not like

it was any great loss.

Yeah, you'll find someone else.

I don't believe this.

Joanne was right... You do hate her.

Well, hate is such a strong word.

We don't hate her.

It's just that we don't like her all that much.

Yeah? Why not?

What did she ever do to you?

Oops.

Yeah, big oops.

I forget. Why did we hate her?

I don't know.

I don't remember.

What are we gonna do now?

Well, we'd better go find Matt and apologize.

Yeah, I know.

Have you seen Dad?

Um, he's still at Mrs. Kerjesz's house with Simon.

What's wrong? Well, I'm really angry

at Mary and Lucy, and I wanted to talk to Dad.

Could you talk to me? I'm a pretty good listener.

I might be able to advise you almost as well as your dad.

I'm not looking for advice, I'm looking for Dad

to go up there and yell at them.

Yell at them? About what?

Joanne dumped me, because Mary and Lucy hate her

for absolutely no reason.

Are you sure?

Mom, I'm sure. I just talked to them.

Fine. Well, your dad can yell at them

if he wants when he gets back,

but I'm taking my turn right now.

I want to apologize

if we did anything or said anything

to hurt Joanne's feelings.

We were just kidding around.

Kidding around how?

We were sort of making fun of her

the other night in the kitchen,

and she may have possibly

overheard something. What?

Well, it's just that she's so perfect.

Yeah.

You know, she's got those perfect teeth

and perfect hair

and a perfect car

a-and perfect grades.

How terrible of her that she was blessed

with good looks and works hard.

Is that why you two seemed so close this week?

Because you were bonding over a common enemy

that you created just for the fun of it?

Well, that is really a dangerous little game you're playing.

Not only do you owe your brother

an apology, you owe Joanne an apology.

First thing tomorrow when you get to school,

you find her and talk to her.

Well, maybe we could call her instead.

Yeah, like, right now.

No. You apologize to her face.

That wasn't yelling.

Maybe I'm just not in the mood for yelling!

Ruthie's really getting to you, huh?

You know about that?

Simon told me.

Look, I know that she didn't mean what she said,

but that word coming out of that sweet little face,

how could she even say the word "hate,"

much less that she hates me?

It's like my heart hurts.

Good night, Simon.

Good night, Mrs. Kerjesz.

Thanks for talking to me.

I don't know, maybe I wasn't such a good listener after all.

I'm really sorry about what happened to your family.

Yes, I'm sorry, too.

Good morning.

Good morning.

What's this?

I'm all done.

You mean you finished cleaning up the wall?

Yep. I got up as soon as my eyes opened.

Oh, honey...

The marks are all gone real good.

You can go look if you want.

I can't wait to see it.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

I love you.

I love you, too.

Oh, and it's so nice to hear you say that, because I know

you've been mad at me.

Yeah,

but I don't hate you for real,

and I'm sorry I said that.

Yeah. I'm sorry that you said it, too.

Is your heart still hurting?

I wish I could tell you that it didn't,

but my heart does still hurt a little,

even though I know you don't really hate me

and that you didn't mean to hurt me.

But I want your heart to feel better right now.

I know you're a very little girl

and this is a very big lesson,

but once you say something,

the words seem to have a power all on their own,

and even though you might want to take them back...

you can't, and even though you apologize for them,

it doesn't always fix things,

at least not as quickly as you'd like them to be fixed.

So...

you just give me a day or two, and...

my heart'll be fine.

Oh, then I guess it's just my mouth I should worry about.

All right, there she is.

Let's get this over with.

Hi.

Would it be all right if we talked to you

for a minute?

Is this a good time?

Matt told me you wanted to talk to me,

but it's not necessary, really.

No, it's completely necessary.

We feel terrible about how we acted.

We're sorry if we hurt your feelings.

If? If you hurt my feelings?

You think my teeth

are capped, I have a boob job,

and I can't microwave my own food?

That's right.

I have perfect hearing, too.

I overheard every word.

We're really sorry. You should be.

If you had bothered to get to know me,

I'm a pretty nice person,

and I try and treat others the way

that I want to be treated.

Yet if you made the same mistake we did,

you'd want people to forgive you, right?

I wouldn't make the same mistake you did.

No, I'm sure you wouldn't, and, look, it's really not like us.

We're really nice most of the time.

We just got caught up in being stupid.

So, please

don't take this out on Matt.

It really wouldn't be fair.

No, it's not fair.

But it's still not gonna work out between Matt and me,

because I don't think I could ever feel comfortable

around you two, or at your house.

So that's just how it is.

We tried.

We failed.

So, how'd it go?

Sorry. Me, too.

If it's any consolation, we learned a big lesson here.

No, it's not any consolation,

because whatever lesson you learned,

you learned at my expense.

Okay, what do we do now?

Now we try to live with our sorry selves

and never do anything like this again.

Boy, I am so proud of all of you.

We're really learning a lot by talking with older people

about their experiences,

aren't we?

Let's see, who wants to go next?

Uh, Simon,

I know I've been anxiously

awaiting your report.

Are you ready? Yes, ma'am, I'm ready.

My report is on the Holocaust,

which is the time when Hitler became chancellor of Germany

on January 30, 1933,

until World War II ended on May 8, 1945.

During this time, an estimated 11 million people

were murdered as a direct result of measures taken against them

by Hitler,

and almost six million of those people were Jews.

My friend, Mrs. Kerjesz,

was just one of those Jewish people

who was put into a Nazi concentration camp

but survived.

I know the assignment was to tell a story passed down

by a friend or family member,

but this is not a story that I could tell,

and even if I could,

you'd probably just think I made it up.

So I'm willing to take an "F" on my report,

because I heard Mrs. Kerjesz's story last night,

and it's more important for her to tell it to you

than for me to tell it to you.

This is Charlotte Kerjesz.

She is a survivor of one of the death camps,

called Auschwitz, in Poland.

Mrs. Kerjesz.

Thank you.

I was taken to the concentration camp

with my mother, my father and my little brother

from Hungary in 1944.

My older brother was a soldier

fighting for Hungary on the Russian front,

and my sister was captured by the SS men

right after the occupation.

I arrived in Auschwitz

with my younger brother, my mother and my father.

We had traveled for four and a half days

on the train without food, without water,

without sanitary facilities.

In the train, it was very, very hot,

and the stench and the heat and the...

noise was unbearable.

In the car, there were people screaming and crying.

There was a panic in it.

We did not know where we were being taken.

When we arrived finally, somewhere...

the doors opened up...

There were hundreds, hundreds of people

trying to get off and pushing each other,

and my father held our hands

so that we would not be separated.

They told us to form two groups:

the men should form one group,

and the women and the children should form another group.

Five months earlier, my brother

turned 13.

He was bar mitzvahed.

So now he... he didn't know if he was considered here

to be a man or a boy.

I told him...

to go with my mother.

Because...

because mothers, they take care of their children...

Sick children... and my brother was very, very sick.

See, I didn't know.

That was my decision.

I killed my brother.

Because...

the group with all the mothers and all the children...

were taken directly to the gas chamber.

Even today, I... I cannot forgive myself.

I was looking for my father.

My father,

he was a six foot two, tall man, very strong,

and he always knew what to do in any situation.

But when I saw him,

he was standing there,

and he looked so... so miserable,

with-with tears coming down off his face.

I didn't think where I was, what I was.

I start to run to him.

I-I didn't know what I wanted.

I... I guess just to...

to comfort him.

The SS man stepped forward and he stopped me

and started screaming at me...

and beating me.

"Go back! You go back where you belong!"

I had no choice, no.

I had to go back.

So I went to where my mother and my brother stood before.

But they were nowhere.

Well, after this,

they told all the single women

to form a third group and step forward.

There was a young SS man,

and he was standing so... he was so relaxed

and smiling, and as we passed him by,

he was waving... Left, right, left...

Later we found out that those who were waved left

ended up in the gas chamber.

We went to the showers.

They told us to take off our clothes.

In the shower, they shaved our hair.

We were standing bald, naked.

I was completely humiliated.

When we came out, they gave us some rags to wear.

I got a man's shirt with no buttons.

I tried desperately to cover myself.

It was 2:00 in the morning and very, very cold.

Then the SS came and told us to go back to our barrack,

we would meet our parents.

When we came there, naturally, no one was there.

Some of the girls started to scream,

cry, "Where are my parents?

My parents?"

And then the SS came and said to us,

pointing to the sky, "Look up, what do you see?"

The sky was black,

heavy with smoke.

And then he said, laughing,

"There are your parents...

"and that is where you are going.

The only way out of Auschwitz is through the chimney."

And that was my arrival

to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

My mother, my father,

my brother...

dead.

After the war, I found out

that my older brother and sister were dead, too.

Of my family...

I was the only one who survived.

If only we could stop hating each other.

If only...