Kazimierz district, Krakow, Poland
March 1941
My name is Józef Oleksy and I’m a tailor. Many would wonder if only they knew I’ve started writing a diary. So, I’m keeping this a big secret. But the reason behind this writing is a girl, whom I met outside the Remu synagogue. I feel like I’m dancing with the stars now. How wonderful!
In all my life I’ve never seen such a beautiful face. Two days after I first met her, she came to my shop for some minor stitching. I was dumbstruck and couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was dressed in a white top and a blue skirt, which was perfect for her. I asked her name and she replied ‘Adela‘ but I thought Angela would have been more appropriate to address my lovely angel. I smiled, she noticed that and frowned. After about 10 minutes, she left leaving an opulent smile and that struck a lightning inside me.
Oswiecim, Poland
September 1941
I’ve almost forgotten about the diary. It’s been about 6 months and so many things have changed but still so many others have remained the same since then. She’s Adela Handlowa, daughter of the famous doctor, Ishtak Handlowa. We’ve progressed in our lives really well since then. After exchanging surreptitious ogles for more than a month, I took a bold decision to express my love for her. She reciprocated and I knew she would. We even had dinner at Adela’s house once. Her parents are happy to get us married but it’s hard to say when that’s going to happen. I am not in Kazimierz anymore. I was moved to Oswiecim last week along with another 300 men from my district. But only a hundred of those are here. Nobody knows the plight of the remaining two hundred. There are some rumors that they’ve been transferred to another camp for want of space but some speculate that they’ve been killed. In actual fact, there’s no room here for more people. We’re about 500 staying in a room where only 200 can be accommodated. For the past one week, I’ve been breaking stones, carrying bricks and building wooden structures. We work 10 hours a day and all we get at the end is a bowl of vegetable soup. I have definitely emaciated and must have lost at least 3 kgs by now. There are other frail bodies who have stayed much longer here and their stories are horrifying. But the SS officer who brought me here said that we’d be migrated to another ghetto and this is just a stopgap arrangement. But at this point when rumors are rampant, none can be trusted.
October 1941
Work has become a norm now and my skeletal body is too weak to do any virile task. The only solace at this time is this diary and my writing. I had symptoms of diarrhea last week but couldn't frequent the toilet because of its poor condition. Even one visit a day makes me puke. How in the world can 500 people use 3 toilets without hygiene papers and toilet seats? It’s October now, it’s already freezing here but there’s no heating for us. Neither do we get any woolen blankets nor do we have any change over clothes. But can we question anyone? No is the answer. So, I’m asking all my questions in this piece of white paper.
Last week, one of our fellow mates, Pawel, protested against the SS guards about our treatment in the camp and even threatened that he would report these atrocities to the inspection officers. He and seven of his fellow workers were taken to the vacant area between blocks 18 and 19. And all that we heard were 8 shots and I never saw Pawel again. The vacant area shooting has become very popular now. At least 50 people have been shot till date. More details later!
November 1941
Just two months have passed and I can’t believe a healthy tailor back then is almost a dead rubber now. I thought I’d quit writing but what I saw last week has prompted me to take my diary out again. We were working near the barracks and suddenly a truck passed by splashing muddy water onto the dry land. It reached the far end of the lane and stopped. A group of about 100 women disembarked and they were taken to a hall. After about an hour, they were let out and I was shocked to see the ladies parading with tonsured heads and minimal clothing in this cold weather. As the group reached us, I suddenly recognized a familiar face in the group. I couldn’t believe my eyes but it was Adela. Not even in the wildest of my dreams would I’ve imagined her in such a state. I felt that the last bit of soul left in my body is not worth a penny if I don’t rise for my Lady of love. So I pushed forward, ran amok the guards and tried to free her. The moment I held her hands in mine, I heard a sudden thud and felt the blood oozing from my head. As I fell down, one of the guards knocked me in the ribs and pushed me aside. Disheartened by the helpless condition, my vision started to blur out and all I could see was my life’s only purpose walking away from me.
When I woke up the next morning, the pain was excruciating but I questioned my fellow inmates about Adela’s whereabouts. They said the group was taken to the gas chamber but none returned except the guards. That was the saddest moment in my life. I cried and my tears came
out not from my eyes but from my heart.
Warsaw, Poland
August 1946
Vladimir Kozlov straightened his horn-rimmed glasses, adjusted his waistcoat and ordered his driver to start. He closed the car windows to stop the freezing winds from blowing into his face and opened the derelict diary.
Kozlov heads the Soviet Union commissioned investigations against the Nazi related crimes committed in areas of Poland. He and his team are currently in charge of collecting evidence for the heinous crimes committed by the Nazi men during the Second World War.
Oswiecim, Poland
December 1941
There’s no pain, there’s no fighting and there’s no writing anymore. My insubordination and frail condition have finally got the guards attention. These words are not written anywhere but they’ll be interred inside me forever. I’m standing in this chamber and I can only pray that this doesn’t happen to any other human being again. The room’s doors close and I can already sense Adela inviting me.
Epilogue – This is my tribute to the over 6 million Jews who died in the most dreaded Holocaust. The Nazi Germans built concentration camps at Oswiecim a.k.a Auschwitz where prisoners, mainly Jews, were ill-treated, deprived of basic living conditions and eventually killed. It is to be noted that most of the people in the camps were not guilty of any crimes and were eminent professionals like musicians, doctors and engineers. The two camps namely Auschwitz I and the much bigger Auschwitz II (or Birkenau) are part of the UNESCO list of World heritage sites now.
Genocides are common even in these days but the idea of eliminating a race altogether from this world and building concentration camps to achieve that purpose proves how cruel some of our fellow men in this world have been.
Let’s pray for all those lost souls and work for world peace and harmony.
All characters and incidents in this self-written work are fictitious and any resemblance to any real characters or incidents is purely coincidental.
Written by Navin Radha
