I remember in one of the camps, another Jew got a hold of candle to light for Shabbos (the Sabbath).  The Jewish fellow was hiding the lit candle in the rafters.  The guard saw the candlelight and took the man away.  We could hear him screaming the Kaddish (the memorial prayer for the dead), “Yisgadel viyiskadesh shema rabah” (May G-d’s name be glorified).  

Another time I was working forced labor in a coal mine and was very weak from lack of food.  I stopped for a second.  The guard saw that I stopped working and made me bend over by the oven there; they took a 2x4 board and broke it over my back. I blacked out. Years later I ran into another survivor at a Survivor Gathering in New York, he was so happy to see me; he witnessed that beating and thought I had been killed.  I’ve had back problems all of my life since then.

Stay Jewish