I cannot remember everything. I must have been unconscious for most of the time.
I only remember the grand moment when everyone began to sing, as if they had agreed upon it, the ancient prayer that they had neglected for so many years - the forgotten creed! But I cannot say how I managed to live underground in the sewers of Warsaw for such a long time.
The day began as usual: waking up while it was still dark. Come out - whether you were sleeping or worries kept you awake all night. You had been separated from your children, from your wife, from your parents; no one knew what had happened to them - how could one sleep?
Again the trumpets - Come out! The sergeant will be furious! They came out; some very slowly; the old, the sick; some with nervous agility. They fear the sergeant. They hurry as much as possible. In vain! Much, too much noise, much, too much agitation - and not fast enough! The sergeant yells: "Achtung! Stilljestanden! Na wird's mal! Oder soll ich mit dem Jewehrkolben nachhelfen? Na jut; wenn ihrs durchaus haben wollt!" ("Attention! Stand still! Well, let's get on with it! Or should I help you along with the rifle butt? Fine; if that's what you really want!")
The sergeant and his assistants struck everyone; young and old, submissive or agitated, guilty or innocent.
It was painful to hear them groan and lament.
I felt everything although I had been hit very hard, so hard that I could not avoid falling. We were all lying on the ground; whoever could not stand up was then struck on the head.
I must have remained unconscious. The first thing I heard was a soldier saying: "they are all dead",
To which the sergeant ordered to get rid of us.
I lay to one side - half unconscious. Everything had become quiet - fear and pain.
It was then that I heard the sergeant shouting: "Abzählen!" ("Count them!"). They began slowly and irregularly One, two, three, four - "Achtung!" ("Attention!") the sergeant shouted again, "Rascher! Nochmals von vorn anfange! In einer Minute will ich wissen, wieviele ich zur Gaskammer abliefere! Abzählen!" ("Faster! Start again from the beginning! In one minute I want to know how many I have to deliver to the gas chamber! Count them!")
They started again, first slowly: one, two, three, four, then faster and faster, faster and faster until at last it sounded like a frantic flight of wild horses, and all of a sudden, in the middle of the tumult, they began to sing the Shema Yisrael.
Listen, Oh Israel, the Lord is your God, the Lord is one.
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And you shall put these words that I command you today in your heart, and you shall teach them to your children, pronouncing them when you lie down in your house, when you walk along the road, when you fall asleep, and when you rise. And you shall bind them upon your arm, and they shall be as a "sign" between your eyes, and you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates (of the cities)."
