The Arrival

How where people transported

Most of the time people would be transported by trains to the death and concentration camps. Usually, the train rides would often be brutal. Thousands of people would be pack into cattle wagons that the train would pull behind. There was no room to sit, no food to eat, no water to drink, and there was no place to go to the bathroom in the cattle wagons. The worst part of the journey was it could last up to days, and usually, the people had no idea where they were going. Sadly, many people died on their way to the camps from hunger, illness, or suffocation.

When they arrived

When the victims would finally arrive at the camps the Nazis would first, rush the victims out of the train so it would keep them from knowing what was happening or what was going to happen to them. Without have food or water for a few days, the victims would often be weak or sick for the lack of hydration and nutrition. When they got inside of the camps they would be told to get in a line. There was a right side and a left side. The left side you were selected to live. Most of the time middle aged men were sent to the left to work. The right side you would automatically sent to death. Woman and children were often sent to the right. Sometimes, there were no selections made and everyone would be sent to death. Before or after the selections were made, the Nazis would take the belongings away from the victims. Sentimental items, practical items such as eyeglasses would be taken away from the victims. Even women's and men's wedding rings would be taken away from them. Eventually, Nazis would sell all of the valuable items.

A Survivor's Point of View

Peter Hersch was Born in Czechoslovakia in 1930 and was only 13 years old when he got sent to the Auschwitz death and concentration camp. In his words, he was talking about how he had to tell a lie about his age so he wouldn't be sent to the gas chamber.

" They send us in to have a shower and then they shaved our heads. They gave us the striped uniforms to put on. I had a man's suit and my father quickly rolled up my sleeves and my pants because that's all you had-- the striped uniforms. That striped uniform I kept until I was liberated. I was with my father-- all the men were on one side and the women on the other. Then this woman walked up to me and asked me how old I was and I said Im thirteen, and she said quickly, Don't say you're thirteen, say you're seventeen. She was with the Nazis, with the SS who were walking around. So I told my father he said, Then say you're seventeen if she told you, That save my life because the SS were walking around asking everyone, How old are you? I said I was seventeen and this officer looked me up and down and he left me there, left me with my father. That was unbelievable, it was just luck that she walked over to me."