Bergen-Belsen: A Short Story

My dear brother Brian, it is ghastly here without your presence at the camp. To begin with, on the night of February 22, we were disjointed and abducted from our home. It all began when several Nazis burst through our door, all we heard was a “thud”, mom and dad strained us to hide in the crepuscular corner located within the attic, but it did not go as arranged. The Nazis found us hiding in the attic; they pried us apart, even though I am only a child. Momentarily, we were then allocated into a bus with many others; we soon arrived at the concentration camp. In addition, they disembarked you off the vehicle, but not I, that was when I saw you lost in shock, both of us in tears, screaming. I could not stop crying, after a few hours I fell asleep,

I walked away feeling like I was a complete failure and that I didn’t deserve to go on. On the way home my mother tried to talk to me, but, I put on my headphones and cried silently. Once we were home my father asked how it went. The tears that were in my eyes and they became more evident as my shoulders and chest were shaking and trembling. The only sound in the room was the sound of me crying and wailing. I started crumbling and falling to the ground and my mother and father rushed to my side. They held me until the tears came to a stop and a little bit afterwards

The Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp could be both a good, and bad place to be. The camp had mainly held Jewish people, and other political prisoners. Many prisoners would come from other camps, but few would go, alive that is.

I was born on February 1, 1932. Eleven months before Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany and fourteen months before the first Nazi concentration camp opened up. On my ninth birthday the German authorities started to round up all Polish Jews and send them to either the Warsaw Ghetto or concentration camps. The full effects of the Holocaust and World War II didn’t start to affect me until I was in the first grade.

Liberation means freedom, but during the Holocaust prisoners didn’t have freedom. The prisoners of the Holocaust were sent there to die and to suffer because they didn’t see Hitler as the messiah. The concentration camps were brutal and inhumane but, living conditions still did not improve as much as liberated camp survivors hoped or expected. Concentration camps disregarded all basic human rights until liberation which still did not live up to the expectations of the survivors. During the Holocaust the prisoners did not have any freedom until they were liberated.

We lived in the ghettos for all of 2 weeks before we were taken to a camp. My family was split up so my mother, my sister, and I were together and my Father was alone. The work camps were terrible they forced us into hard labor my mother and I knew how to sew so we were put into a work group to sew up soldiers uniforms. I ber one day my mother pricked her finger and got blood on one of the uniforms she was beaten by an S.S officer and yelled at continually. If I ever made a mistake or did something wrong my mother would take the beating for me. I objected every time but she would never let anything happen to me. My older sister was not good at sewing but luckily was put near us she helped cook for everyone in the camp. I will always remember the day of the selection my mother was not chosen but I was my mother tried to talk me into believing that getting picked this time was good and that we needed to say goodbye because she was leaving. I knew the truth though. The next day an officer called out the names of the chosen people my name was called. We were told we were going to take a shower. When they stopped us we were in a big room I did not see any shower heads “Gas chamber” I heard someone mumble. I knew my last breath was going to be soon. All at once gaas entered the room coughing came from all around. I said my last goodbye and said a silent Kaddish for myself and the people I was with. I then took my final breath while many

I found some paper today and I wanted to write to you. I know it’s only been a few weeks since they took me to this camp and split us up but I still miss you a lot. I’m doing good, the camp that they brought me to isn’t too bad. We eat well, and there are not a lot of people (Bergen-Belsen United). I thought it would be more crowded, but it’s not. I’ve heard stories about the concentration camps, how sickness spreads and the food is scarce, the number of people there can be, but it's bearable (Bergen-Belsen Camp). The camp is big, there are at least four other camps that they keep people in (Bergen-Belsen), I don’t know how it is over there but I can only hope it’s decent. People from the other camps have come over here

The Holocaust was an awful time in world history: the concentration camps played a big role in this awful unnecessary experience.

Before being sent to the camp, I heard how the first day was the worst day, and what I heard was correct. I arrived at the camp, and I was locked in my room with a piece of paper over the window so that I could not see out. At 2 o’clock, the door opened, and I was herded down to the cellblock to do calisthenics. I threw up.

Earlier that day everything was normal, or at least I think it was. I’m James, I’m a Jewish boy and I’m 10 years old. I don’t fit in the best, I have been living in Germany for 5 years and every time I walk down the streets in the past month people give me death stares and warned me to get out. I don’t have a choice my mom is the one who moved our family here. My family is just my brother mom and I, my dad past away from lung cancer a couple years ago.

(After the holocaust) I sat down with a woman and a child to retell the horrors of my past, I am Erika, a Jewish survivor of the holocaust. I don’t recall much of my infant years, but some very vivid memories. My story takes place during the holocaust. I’ve only wished for the family I never knew; my family experienced the holocaust firsthand. My parents and other Jews had been rounded up and sent to fenced off ghettos, with the word, verboten plastered all over the walls. Later, we were forced to board a train, my parents must have been eager to leave their famished and filthy lives. They must have been told they were going to a better place, a place where they would have food and work, but they hadn’t heard the rumors of the death camps.

After days of being in that horrible box, it was finally opened, my hope had come true…. Or so i thought. We move further down below the deck and to my disappointment it got a lot worse. We were chained to these wood plains and had to lay down right next to each other (every inch of my body touching someone else's). It was so uncomfortable, but that wasn’t even the worst part…. It smelled horrible, liking taking everything in the world that smells bad and mixing it up together. This was because many had vomit due to the poor conditions not only that but you had to pee right there and then. Also, since we were in the sea… everyone one was getting toss around like toys which cause many to be sea-sick. All we can do now is pray … well not even that because all our energy was gone. We didn't have energy because we didn’t get fed and when we did it was the most awful rice and beans that look so nasty it makes you want to gag. I was tired and shut my eyes for a bit… when i opened them i noticed my friend was died, it made me cry so much; but i shortly stop because a crew member unchained me and took me out of the room. I was escorted to a room filled with white men they all used me like a toy and then made me witness a man getting hit with a whip on the back. Me not being the smartest decide to go and try to help but end up getting hit myself which hurt really bad. They would do dreadful

In 1940, the Bergen-Belsen prisoner-of-war camp was set up near Celle, Germany (USHMM). SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer Adolf Haas was the first officer of the camp. It didn’t become an official concentration camp until December of 1944, when SS-Hauptsturmfuhrer Josef Kramer became the commandant (Webb and Lisciotto). Homosexuals, gypsies, Jews, and many other types of people were imprisoned at Bergen-Belsen (USHMM).

Established in 1940, Bergen-Belsen was originally a prisoner-of-war camp. It was formerly named Stalag 311 until 1943 when the camp was converted into a concentration camp and renamed Bergen-Belsen. Bergen-Belsen was divided into eight different sub-camps: a special camp (Sonderlager), neutral's camp (Nuetralenlager), a tent camp (Zeltlager), small women’s camp (Kleines Fravenlager), large women’s camp (Grosses Fravenlager), star camp (Sternlager), a Hungarian camp (Ungarnlager), and a recuperation camp (Ernolungslager). Bergen-Belsen was only built to hold around 10,000 prisoners, but by the end of the war the camp held more than 60,000 prisoners. This concentration camp had good living standards compared to other camps like Auschwitz. However,

What is the value of life? The battle of survival began for many as they entered Bergen-Belsen. Their lives changed forever. Bergen-Belsen was a historic place due to being a concentration camp with a large number of prisoners that were eventually liberated. The Nazis came in and took over the lives of many innocent people.