A Journey Through Hell

By Jerry Wood

Hannah was but a young Jewish girl at the tender age of seventeen, when she and her younger sister got caught up in the horrors of Nazi Europe. She watched as her poor but lovely village was raped and destroyed by the invading Nazi war machine.

In 1943 Hannah fled her village and her family never to see either again. She took her younger sister and escaped to hungry vowing to her mother that she would always protect and never leave her sister. After hiding underground I Budapest for several months, the Gestapo caught up with Hannah and her sister and they were sent to the death camps. Throughout Auschwitz, throughout a death march to Bergen-Belsen, among all the horrors and death of the gas chambers and the crematorium, this incredible young girl never broke the promise she gave to her mother.

Hannah did much more than save her younger sisters life however. Through her own courage and cunning, Hannah managed, at the risk of certain death, to save hundreds of lives in Bergen-Belsen.

When the British liberated Hannah on April fifteenth, nineteen forty-five, Hannah was near death from typhoid and pneumonia. She weighed a mere fifty-seven pounds. As Hannah lay dying with her sister, a British soldier gave her a chocolate bar. Hannah was too weak to raise her head to eat it, but she could still wave her hand and smile. Thanks.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Apr 30, 2009
• ISBN: 9781467875233

Jerry Wood

The author, Pastor Jerry Wood, holds two masters degrees from Asbury Theological Seminary and has written and published two other books, “Pentecostal Holiness, the Life and Preaching of Henry Clay Morrision” and “Discovery to Catastrophe”.

Book preview

Chapter 1 

It was a beautiful summer morning in June of 1943 in the small and very poor Jewish village of Lipca. The village of Lipca only had a population of about one hundred and fifty people or so and that included the eighteen to twenty Gentile families. It was however, a very tight knit community where neighbor cared about neighbor. Lipca is located in Polonina, in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. It was a very beautiful area in Eastern Czechoslovakia, bordering on Romania and Hungary.

The mid morning sun beamed down gently as a few splotches of billowy clouds drifted across the sky. I could feel the tickling warmth of the sun’s rays on my face as I worked with mama, papa and Sister Miriam in the garden. It wouldn’t be long, however, before the temperature would begin to soar, just as the sun would climb high in the sky. As I worked my way down each row, I would pluck out the weeds and pick up the stones from the fertile soil. I enjoyed working in the garden in the mornings before the sun got hot. It was always so peaceful and quiet.

The distant roar of trucks broke through the stillness causing even the birds to quit signing. I paused to listen and as the sounds grew louder I wondered why trucks would be coming to our poor village. Suddenly there was the screeching of the truck’s brakes as the trucks came to a stop in front of the house. Then came the clopping of the soldier’s hard boots pounding on the sun-baked ground as they ran from the trucks.

The nightmare, that was to change our lives forever and would also become one of the worst chapters in history, had begun. Pandemonium began to break out as yelling and screaming began to pierce the air from everywhere.

A cold chill ran down my spine as a German soldier came around the house shouting, Heraus -- Heraus! (Out of here) Schmutzig Juden! (Dirty Jews) He continued to yell as he ran over to papa and started striking papa in the face with a whip.

Mama quickly sprang to papa, attempting to shield him from the blows being delivered by the tall, blond, muscular German soldier. With one swoop of his arm, the soldier threw mama to the ground and delivered a mighty kick to her side. The thud, of the kick and mama’s scream, shot terror throughout my body. However I guess my instinct to protect mama was stronger than the fear. I threw myself over mama to protect her. Then came the stinging blows of the whip crashing across my back and shoulders.

The pain shot fire through my body as my young mind searched for answers as to what was happening and why. Then three more soldiers appeared. They began screaming for all of us to move to the front of the house. The blows to my back and shoulders stopped and the soldier reached down and grabbed me by my long dark hair. With a sneer and an evil look in his eye, the soldier dragged me by the hair across the hard ground to the front of the house.

As the German soldier deposited me in a heap on the ground in front of the house, I became aware of the hustle and bustle around me. The German soldiers were rounding up all our Jewish neighbors, pushing and shoving them to the four Army trucks that had brought the soldiers to our village. Everyone in the village, except the gentile families, was being amassed at the trucks. Everyone that was Jewish from the eldest person to the littlest babies being held in their mother’s arms. The entire village was terrified. They were crying and praying as the spiteful Germans began to cram them into the back of the trucks. The soldiers had already brought my other six brothers and sisters from the house and they were standing with mama and papa preparing to board the trucks.

My mind jumped back to only a few days earlier when my cousin Herssler had told us of some newspaper articles that he had read. Herssler was a schoolteacher and quite often was able to get access to newspaper reports of world events, and then he would relay the news to all the villagers. He had, on this occasion, reported to us of accounts that Hitler was rounding up large groups of Jewish people and having them executed. Oh my God! I silently thought. Is that what all this is about? Are they going to kill us all?

As I lay on the ground with my mind running rampant, I saw a German SS officer standing in the back of an Army jeep. I had seen this man before. He was the man that had raped and murdered my aunt only a few months earlier. This SS officer was a big man well over six feet tall and weighted at least two hundred pounds. He wore a crisply pressed dark uniform with lots of buttons and shiny black boots. As he observed the actions of his men, he continually struck his left hand with the whip grasped firmly in his right hand. While he watched and banged the whip in his hand, he smiled sadistically and I knew he enjoyed what his men were doing.

Get in the truck! I could hear the German soldiers yelling in their native tongue.

Mama was a frail and petite woman and as she was trying to pull herself up to the high bed of the truck, she fell backwards. She fell into papa, who was still dazed and bleeding from the beating in the garden, sending them both into one of the yelling soldiers. The soldier began shouting at mama and papa then started whipping them unmercifully.

Stop it! Stop it! I yelled springing to my feet and throwing myself between the soldier and mama and papa. Once again, I began to feel the biting sting of the whip across my back.

Anhalten! Halten! (Stop) The Big SS officer shouted from his jeep to his men. Immediately the blows ceased and the soldiers backed away. I quickly helped mama and papa up into the truck bed. Sister Miriam and Sister Eva limbed up behind them and I handed Brother Harry, who was only five years old, up to Miriam. Little Harry was crying and shaking like a leaf as Miriam pulled him from my extended arms. There was only room for everyone to stand in the back of the truck as the soldiers packed everyone in tightly together. Little Harry clung to Miriam’s leg as mama tried to hold papa up. He was still in a daze and very weak kneed. Miriam, two years my senior at nineteen, tried to comfort everyone as tears flowed like rain. Everyone was crying, everyone except Eva that is. Eva, two years my junior, was visibly shaken and as pale as a ghost. I will never forget the look in Eva’s eyes. I had never seen such a look before. It was almost an evil, hateful look. I am sure that if she could have gotten her hands on a gun right then, all of the German soldiers would have been dead.

Just as I prepared to climb up into the truck, the big SS officer called to me from his jeep and motioned for me to come to him. At seventeen I was still more of a tomboy than a young lady and I swore to myself that I would not allow anyone to intimidate me, not even this big murdering SS officer.

My face was red with contempt as he asked, What is your name, freundin?

Hannah. I snapped.

Hannah huh. Well, Hannah, you may go into your house and get one loaf of bread, if you have it. You are not allowed to bring anything else with you. Do you understand? He paused as I nodded that I understood, and then he said, All of you are going to work.

Going to work! My mind processed. That meant that they weren’t going to execute us. I quickly ran to the house and retrieved the bread and then returned to the truck. As I climbed up into the truck, I handed the bread to mama. I could see the terror in her eyes as she took the bread with trembling hands. Almost out of breath from running, I excitedly said, Mama that SS officer said that they are taking us to work. With a forced little half smile and a nod, some of the terror left mama’s eyes.

As we all stood in the back of the truck, the soldiers closed the tailgate, crunching us up so close together that we could barley breath. Then the truck began to move. Everyone, still frightened and scared, embraced each other in an effort to not only comfort one and another, but also to keep each other from falling down.

This sun shinny day in June of 1943 was the beginning of the darkest days of my life. My journey through hell and back had begun and every minute would be etched in my mind forever.

Chapter 2 

The four trucks, containing the entire Jewish population of Lipca, proceeded south toward Khust. Accompanying the trucks were two Army jeeps. One of the jeeps, carrying the big SS officer, led the convoy and the second brought up the rear.

As the convoy rumbled down the dirt road, a giant cloud of dust was created. The cloud hung around us like a dense fog, making it almost impossible to suck in air. Barely audible, from under the roar of the trucks, came the sounds of sobbing and moaning as we all struggled to stay on our feet. In my mind, there was a struggle going on. I wanted to believe what the SS officer had said about taking us to work, but the terror in everyone’s eyes allowed doubt to creep in. I would ask myself, What if they are taking us to be slaughtered? Then I would answer myself, No, they need workers and we are of more use to them alive as workers.

After traveling about one and a half kilometers, or so, from the village of Lipca, the trucks came to an abrupt stop sending everyone crashing forward. As everyone struggled to regain their original position, I could see that we had stopped at a large field. In the center of the field were about a hundred and fifty people. Men, women and children, all huddled into a mass that formed a large circle. Around the perimeter of this huddled mass of sheepish humanity, six German soldiers patrolled. Each Soldier had a rifle slung over their left shoulder that they held tightly with their left hand and in their right hand they held the leash of a German shepherd dog. I would soon learn to fear those dogs and even hate the sight or sound of them.

Gazing out at the people in the circle, I was awe struck at the deafening silence. With that many scared and frightened people, one would think there would be some sound of sobbing, children crying, a slight buzz of the people whispering or something, but there wasn’t. There was nothing but stone cold deathly silence. A silence that raised the hairs on the back of my neck.

The soldiers unlatched the truck’s tailgate and let it fall with a thundering bang. They ordered everyone out of the trucks and to join the others sitting silently in the circle. As I jumped from the truck bed, the reason for the deadly silence instantly became very apparent to me. I noticed, to my left about fifty meters away, there stood three large black poles protruding from the ground. Each pole was about three meters apart. Tied to each pole was a body slumped over in death. There was a man, a woman, and a small child about ten or eleven years of age. It was the most gruesome sight that I had ever seen in my young life. Although death, massacre and savage killings soon would become a common sight, at that moment my stomach jumped up into my throat. The German soldiers had executed these three innocent people as an example of what would happen if their orders were not strictly adhered to.

Miriam handed little Harry down to me then helped mama and papa down from the truck. I grabbed Eva’s hand as the soldiers began pushing us towards the circle of people. Somehow my family managed to stay together as we joined the circle and took seats on the hard ground. Little Harry laid his head on my lap as I put my hand on mama’s hand. My mind raced as I asked myself, My God, Why? What has brought this terrible thing upon us? What was to happen to us?

It was very apparent that the Germans were using this field as a staging area. The late morning sun began to beat down hard as we sat in total silence for what seemed to be an eternity. Trucks would come and go, depositing their human cargo. With each trip the size of the circle would grow. By about noon the circle had grown to what appeared to be about eight or nine hundred people, and everyone Jewish. The Germans had even seated the local Rabbi on the hard ground with us.

My mouth began to dry out and my throat was becoming like sandpaper. Beads of sweat ran down my face as we all sat in the hot sun in silence. No one dared to even move for fear of what the soldiers might do to us.

As the glaring sun topped the sky, two more trucks arrived. This time instead of more Jews, the trucks brought more soldiers with dogs. Then this deep German voice came over a loud speaker. We were told to move to the road and form a column, four abreast. The voice also informed us that anyone caught talking, even whispering, would be shot on the spot. In addition we were told that we were going to march to Khust and once we arrived in Khust, everyone would be given work.

Once again the word work was used. I gave mama a reassuring smile as I Eva to my feet. With much confusion and the soldiers pushing and shoving, the mass of people moved to the road. In total silence, except for the clopping of feet, families attempted to stay together as the long column of people took shape.

Chapter 3 

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the temperature soared as the column marched down the dirt road. The air was totally still and the dust created by the pounding of so many feet clopping on the sun-baked road seemed to engulf us like a cloud of smoke. The hot rays of the torrid sun made the sweat almost gush from my pores. The dust and grit clung to my sweaty body as my eyes were burning from the perspiration running into them. My mouth was as dry as the desert sand and begged for some sort of moisture. Never before had I yearned so badly for just one drink of cool water.

Mama, papa and Miriam were just in front of Eva, little Harry and myself. Little Harry was between Eva and me and clung to us for dear life. Max, my older brother, and my other two sisters were just ahead of mama and papa. As I looked at mama and papa, I was concerned for them. Mama was so frail and papa still hadn’t regained his strength nor his senses from the morning flogging.

The German soldiers kept the massive column moving at a ferrous pace. There were SS soldiers on both sides of the column about five meters apart, and each one had one of those vicious dogs. The soldiers were continuously pushing, shoving and prodding us as they yelled for us to keep moving.

Off to my right, on the outside of the column, there was a young girl. She appeared to be about my age, maybe a couple of years younger. She was carrying a young child of about two or three years old. Obviously the child was her brother. The terrified child was screaming and crying as the girl struggled to keep up with the column.

Apparently the soldier, just behind the young girl, became annoyed with the child’s crying or maybe it was out of pure hatred for the Jews. I don’t know. At any rate, the soldier reached out and shoved the young girl in the back, sending the young child hurling from her arms to the ground with a sickening thud. The scene that followed still gives me nightmares, even after all these years. It has been and forever will be etched in my mind and heart.

The dog instantly pounced upon the child grabbing it by the face. As the savage dog ripped and tore the child apart, shaking it like a rag doll, the young girl screamed and threw herself at the dog, attempting to intervene and save her brother’s life. The SS soldier raised his rifle above his head and sent the butt of it crashing down and bashing into the young girl’s head. He repeated this action two more times. It seemed like only a flash in time and it was over as fast as it started. In just an instant two lives had been snuffed out. The two lifeless bodies were roughly pushed to the side and the column ordered to keep moving. From that point forward, whenever little Harry would cry or even whimper, Eva or I would quickly put our hand over his mouth to keep him silent.

The column continued to be herded towards Khust and I tried not to look back. My heart pounded hard in my chest and chills shot down my spine as I heard the occasional screams, snarling dogs, and on a few occasions even gun shots. My main concern now was for mama and papa in front of me. I knew that they had to keep moving, they had to keep up with the pace. My greatest fear was that one of them would fall down and to do so, would have meant certain death.

As we marched, I could see the bodies of others that couldn’t keep pace. Those that could not keep up would be beaten to death with blows to the head then left alongside the road forming a trail of lifeless human bodies. A trail of bodies that marked the route we were taking, bodies of the old, sick and the weak. Some had their arms out stretched toward heaven as if they were praying. There were so many dead bodies that I couldn’t keep count of them even though I tried. I even saw a child’s body being eaten by two dogs and a few others that were barely alive. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I couldn’t believe that human life could be cast aside so easily. As I walked, I silently prayed. I prayed for mama, papa, my sisters and brothers. I prayed for God to deliver us from this evil that surrounded us all. Deliverance, however, was to be a long way off.

Chapter 4 

Fatigued and parched, we finally arrived at Khust. The sun was in its final hours as we were herded into a railroad loading area where other groups of Jews were waiting. I don’t believe that I had ever seen so many people, much less Jewish people, gathered together in one place. The Germans had gathered all the Jews from the surrounding countryside and brought them here. I could sense the feeling of fear and helplessness that hung throughout the large gathering like a dense fog.

In front of us there was a long train, made up of fifty or more railroad cars. The cars were a cross between box cars and cattle cars, the kind used to ship cattle or sheep. The cars were made of metal and were a dark reddish brown in color. Each car had a sliding door with a cut out window in the middle of it. The window, which was about a half-meter square, had wooden slats across it.

There were German SS troupers and dogs everywhere, keeping the groups together and silent. The train’s engine was parked right at the station and on the station platform stood several SS officers. Through a loudspeaker on the platform the SS officers gave us our instructions. We were ordered to proceed, still in a column of fours and without talking, to the awaiting cars and climb aboard.

On each side of the railroad car door stood two SS soldiers with his dog. They were poking, pushing, shoving and prodding the people into the cars. There were no stairs or anything to aid in getting up into the cars and there was absolutely no consideration given to the older folks who found it almost impossible to board. The young men that boarded first would pull, as others outside the train car would boost, the ones finding it difficult to climb up into the lofted car. Somehow we managed to get mama and papa up into the car without any trouble. However, there were many that were bleeding from their legs and backsides from dog bites because they weren’t loading fast enough.

The soldiers packed us in the cars like sardines. There must have been at least three hundred of us in each car. So many people were jammed into the car that it was almost impossible to sit down. Once no more people would fit, the SS soldiers would slam the door shut and lock it. The small window was also locked. I know because I tried it any way to make sure. After the door was shut, the only light that trickled in was the few rays that found their way from the slats.

God must have been with my family once again. We were among the last few to enter the car and as a result we were left standing near the door. This gave us a little more access to air and a wall to support our backs. However, when that door slammed shut, it seemed as though everything good that I had ever believed existed in life, escaped from my brain as quickly as the light disappeared from within that horrible enclosure. It was a feeling of complete suffocation and terror.

The only thing that comes to mind that would possibly be close enough to describe that feeling would be being buried alive in a coffin. Being put into the ground knowing that you were still alive and completely helpless to help yourself, yet being able to hear others talking and moving above you. Realizing that you are helpless to let them know you are there and knowing that you are eventually going to run out of air and die. You try to find the strength to accept your own death while at the same time you search your soul for answers. Trying to gain some comfort from the sound of your own voice, you pray out loud to God. While you ask God to provide you with a way out, you also curse him and ask, Why? As you hold on to your last breath, you fight to keep your sanity.

We remained trapped in that railroad car for two days without the train ever