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No Comments Elie Wiesel
I couldn’t say it better so I offer an excerpt from his book, Night.
One day, as we returned from work, we saw three gallows, three black ravens,, erected on the Apppelplatz. Roll call. The SS surrounding us, machine guns aimed at us; the usual ritual. Three prisoners in chains-and, among them, the little pipel, the sad-eyed angel.
The SS seemed more preoccupied, more worried, than usual. To hang a child in front of thousands of onlookers was not a small matter. The head of the camp read the verdict. All eyes were on the child. He was pale, almost calm, but he was biting his lips as he stood in the shadow of the gallows.
This time, the Lagerkapa refused to act as executioner. Three SS took his place. The three condemned prisoners together stepped onto the chairs. In unison, the nooses were placed around their necks.
“Long live liberty!” shouted the two men. But the boy was silent. “Where is merciful God, where is He” someone behind me was asking.
At the signal, the three chairs were tipped over. Total silence in the camp. On the horizon, the sun was setting.
“Caps off!” screamed the Lageralteste. His voice quivered. As for the rest of us, we were weeping. “Cover you heads!”
Then came the march past the victims. The two men were no longer alive. Their tongues were hanging out, swollen and bluish. But the third rope was still moving; the child, too light, was still breathing………..
And so he remained for more than half an hour, lingering between life and death. writhing before our eyes. And we were forced to look at him at close range. He was still alive when I passed him. His tongue was still red, his eyes not yet extinguished.
Behind me, I heard the same man asking; “For God’s sake, where is God?” And from within me, I heard a voice answer; “Where He is? This is where-hanging here from this gallows……….”
That night the soup tasted of corpses.