March of the Living

[zzzaacckk]

As some of you may know, I have been on a trip for the past two weeks. We went to Poland and then Israel for Holocaust Rememberance. Many of you know that I am Jewish and I know that a few of you are as well. The actual march is three kilometers from Auschwitz I to Birkenau death camp in Poland. In this place millions of people, not only Jews died. I felt inspired after returning home to write so I would like to show you guys a bit of what I have done. I am not a very eloquent writer as many of you know from the forums but after showing this to my english teacher, she was speechless.

Enjoy:

Close your eyes and imagine your family. Just sitting in a park
on a lovely spring day in the shade of a tall, strong, airy oak tree.
The grass is a fertile green and there is a crisp breeze in the air.
The river's light blue water flows over soft rocks making soothing
noises as the birds sing joyously above you. There isn’t a cloud in the
sky and your picnic basket is full of apples, sandwiches, and cakes.
Your world is in a perfect state of euphoria and everything is
pristine.

Suddenly, the sky darkens as clouds begin to gather. The
beautiful sounds of spring fade out as the sharp staccato of
goose-stepping boots begin. Artillery shells rain from the heavens. As
they explode around your family chaos ensues. The tree beside you is
hit and topples, nearly hitting your neighbour's daughter. The
mechanical sound of the boots rises in a crescendo and the beautiful
stream begins running red.

Over the hill, amidst the panic, strong faced young men in uniform march towards you. Your party is rushed to the formerly serene shtettle square where swastikas hang in place of daises from the balconies. The entire shtettle is present and you are barked at by an officer to begin marching.

Your family, together with the Bubbies and Zeidas walk one foot in front of the other for what seems like ages. No one dares stop to tie their shoe for fear of death. As the rain begins to fall and the air cools, you feel like your life has been violated. Every few steps the men in uniform pull a straggler to the side and at point blank range, murder him. Marching into the
forest, the bold trees no longer comfort you. Instead, they stand tall
and defiant, not willing to assist you at your weakest moment. You
want the whole forest to hear but noone is there to witness. Your
community is finally ordered to stop and the healthy men are ordered
forward. Your son is ripped from your arms. You witness your son being
beaten and made to dig with his hands like a dog. You try to cry out
but your husband muzzles you. As the trenches grow, the elders
speculate about the soldiers' orders. Out of nowhere, you hear a
piercing gunshot and horrid screaming. A young boy who had wandered
from his mother had been shot. His mother's screams surround you but
go unanswered. Finally, the entire shtettle is gathered in the ditch
and all you can hear are the words:

***SING*** Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad ***SING***


As the fire rips through your daughter Fagle a tear forms in your
eye. "What have I done to deserve this torture God?" And then, its
over; darkness. Your entire life, community, shtettle; gone. Nothing
remains, not even the memory. A trench in a forest.


THIS IS THE STORY OF THE COMMUNITY OF TIKUCHIN, POLAND

NOTES:

Shtettle - small community made of Jews in Europe. Generally rather poor and mainly farmers. They were spread all over eastern Europe during the early 18th - 20th centuries.

Shema Yisrael... -translation: "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One" - It is the most used and most famous Jewish prayer.


-zzzaacckk

[The Coder]

wierd... kinda disturbing...

[kerrgtz3]

As some of you may know, I have been on a trip for the past two weeks. We went to Poland and then Israel for Holocaust Rememberance. Many of you know that I am Jewish and I know that a few of you are as well. The actual march is three kilometers from Auschwitz I to Birkenau death camp in Poland. In this place millions of people, not only Jews died. I felt inspired after returning home to write so I would like to show you guys a bit of what I have done. I am not a very eloquent writer as many of you know from the forums but after showing this to my english teacher, she was speechless.

Enjoy:

Close your eyes and imagine your family. Just sitting in a park
on a lovely spring day in the shade of a tall, strong, airy oak tree.
The grass is a fertile green and there is a crisp breeze in the air.
The river's light blue water flows over soft rocks making soothing
noises as the birds sing joyously above you. There isn’t a cloud in the
sky and your picnic basket is full of apples, sandwiches, and cakes.
Your world is in a perfect state of euphoria and everything is
pristine.

Suddenly, the sky darkens as clouds begin to gather. The
beautiful sounds of spring fade out as the sharp staccato of
goose-stepping boots begin. Artillery shells rain from the heavens. As
they explode around your family chaos ensues. The tree beside you is
hit and topples, nearly hitting your neighbour's daughter. The
mechanical sound of the boots rises in a crescendo and the beautiful
stream begins running red.

Over the hill, amidst the panic, strong faced young men in uniform march towards you. Your party is rushed to the formerly serene shtettle square where swastikas hang in place of daises from the balconies. The entire shtettle is present and you are barked at by an officer to begin marching.

Your family, together with the Bubbies and Zeidas walk one foot in front of the other for what seems like ages. No one dares stop to tie their shoe for fear of death. As the rain begins to fall and the air cools, you feel like your life has been violated. Every few steps the men in uniform pull a straggler to the side and at point blank range, murder him. Marching into the
forest, the bold trees no longer comfort you. Instead, they stand tall
and defiant, not willing to assist you at your weakest moment. You
want the whole forest to hear but noone is there to witness. Your
community is finally ordered to stop and the healthy men are ordered
forward. Your son is ripped from your arms. You witness your son being
beaten and made to dig with his hands like a dog. You try to cry out
but your husband muzzles you. As the trenches grow, the elders
speculate about the soldiers' orders. Out of nowhere, you hear a
piercing gunshot and horrid screaming. A young boy who had wandered
from his mother had been shot. His mother's screams surround you but
go unanswered. Finally, the entire shtettle is gathered in the ditch
and all you can hear are the words:

***SING*** Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad ***SING***


As the fire rips through your daughter Fagle a tear forms in your
eye. "What have I done to deserve this torture God?" And then, its
over; darkness. Your entire life, community, shtettle; gone. Nothing
remains, not even the memory. A trench in a forest.


THIS IS THE STORY OF THE COMMUNITY OF TIKUCHIN, POLAND

NOTES:

Shtettle - small community made of Jews in Europe. Generally rather poor and mainly farmers. They were spread all over eastern Europe during the early 18th - 20th centuries.

Shema Yisrael... -translation: "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One" - It is the most used and most famous Jewish prayer.


-zzzaacckk
Woah, thats fu**ing nuts!
I could like tottaly see it. Dude, im like :eek:

[lthlinjction]

Amazing thread zzz. I can see why she was speechless.

Mad Props.

[Rockstar Energy]

We had a Hungarian Jew come to our Highschool to talk about her survival from the Holocaust. It was pretty sad. I had this one kid sitting behind me laughing at her story, I stood up, and told him to get out, or shut up. And he did shut up.

She went on, showing pictures up on the giant projector, mass killings and so on.

I bought her book. I read it every so often.

[007 GOD]

z. i had no idea. i have more respect for you.

[shatterstar]

As some of you may know, I have been on a trip for the past two weeks. We went to Poland and then Israel for Holocaust Rememberance. Many of you know that I am Jewish and I know that a few of you are as well. The actual march is three kilometers from Auschwitz I to Birkenau death camp in Poland. In this place millions of people, not only Jews died. I felt inspired after returning home to write so I would like to show you guys a bit of what I have done. I am not a very eloquent writer as many of you know from the forums but after showing this to my english teacher, she was speechless.

Enjoy:

Close your eyes and imagine your family. Just sitting in a park
on a lovely spring day in the shade of a tall, strong, airy oak tree.
The grass is a fertile green and there is a crisp breeze in the air.
The river's light blue water flows over soft rocks making soothing
noises as the birds sing joyously above you. There isn’t a cloud in the
sky and your picnic basket is full of apples, sandwiches, and cakes.
Your world is in a perfect state of euphoria and everything is
pristine.

Suddenly, the sky darkens as clouds begin to gather. The
beautiful sounds of spring fade out as the sharp staccato of
goose-stepping boots begin. Artillery shells rain from the heavens. As
they explode around your family chaos ensues. The tree beside you is
hit and topples, nearly hitting your neighbour's daughter. The
mechanical sound of the boots rises in a crescendo and the beautiful
stream begins running red.

Over the hill, amidst the panic, strong faced young men in uniform march towards you. Your party is rushed to the formerly serene shtettle square where swastikas hang in place of daises from the balconies. The entire shtettle is present and you are barked at by an officer to begin marching.

Your family, together with the Bubbies and Zeidas walk one foot in front of the other for what seems like ages. No one dares stop to tie their shoe for fear of death. As the rain begins to fall and the air cools, you feel like your life has been violated. Every few steps the men in uniform pull a straggler to the side and at point blank range, murder him. Marching into the
forest, the bold trees no longer comfort you. Instead, they stand tall
and defiant, not willing to assist you at your weakest moment. You
want the whole forest to hear but noone is there to witness. Your
community is finally ordered to stop and the healthy men are ordered
forward. Your son is ripped from your arms. You witness your son being
beaten and made to dig with his hands like a dog. You try to cry out
but your husband muzzles you. As the trenches grow, the elders
speculate about the soldiers' orders. Out of nowhere, you hear a
piercing gunshot and horrid screaming. A young boy who had wandered
from his mother had been shot. His mother's screams surround you but
go unanswered. Finally, the entire shtettle is gathered in the ditch
and all you can hear are the words:

***SING*** Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad ***SING***


As the fire rips through your daughter Fagle a tear forms in your
eye. "What have I done to deserve this torture God?" And then, its
over; darkness. Your entire life, community, shtettle; gone. Nothing
remains, not even the memory. A trench in a forest.


THIS IS THE STORY OF THE COMMUNITY OF TIKUCHIN, POLAND

NOTES:

Shtettle - small community made of Jews in Europe. Generally rather poor and mainly farmers. They were spread all over eastern Europe during the early 18th - 20th centuries.

Shema Yisrael... -translation: "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One" - It is the most used and most famous Jewish prayer.


-zzzaacckk

i feel you.

respekt. gr8 respekt.

[zzzaacckk]

We had a Hungarian Jew come to our Highschool to talk about her survival from the Holocaust. It was pretty sad. I had this one kid sitting behind me laughing at her story, I stood up, and told him to get out, or shut up. And he did shut up.

She went on, showing pictures up on the giant projector, mass killings and so on.

I bought her book. I read it every so often.

On the trip we had 5 Survivors; each with their own unique story. This was the most educational, eye opening and emotional 2 weeks of my life.

[Rockstar Energy]

It is. The most grusome thing that I can't shake from my mind is that they had to literally stand in there awake in a packed full train cargo part in there own crap, and piss for three days before they arrived in concentration camps. And drink there piss in order to hydrate themselves to survive.

Not only that but the things the Nazis' did within the camp..

Its all just compelling.

[shatterstar]

sometimes when i hear tales of what went on in the camps i just want to believe that its all allied anti-nazi propaganda rather than accept than human beings are capable of such acts.

[ko71991]

As some of you may know, I have been on a trip for the past two weeks. We went to Poland and then Israel for Holocaust Rememberance. Many of you know that I am Jewish and I know that a few of you are as well. The actual march is three kilometers from Auschwitz I to Birkenau death camp in Poland. In this place millions of people, not only Jews died. I felt inspired after returning home to write so I would like to show you guys a bit of what I have done. I am not a very eloquent writer as many of you know from the forums but after showing this to my english teacher, she was speechless.

Enjoy:

Close your eyes and imagine your family. Just sitting in a park
on a lovely spring day in the shade of a tall, strong, airy oak tree.
The grass is a fertile green and there is a crisp breeze in the air.
The river's light blue water flows over soft rocks making soothing
noises as the birds sing joyously above you. There isn’t a cloud in the
sky and your picnic basket is full of apples, sandwiches, and cakes.
Your world is in a perfect state of euphoria and everything is
pristine.

Suddenly, the sky darkens as clouds begin to gather. The
beautiful sounds of spring fade out as the sharp staccato of
goose-stepping boots begin. Artillery shells rain from the heavens. As
they explode around your family chaos ensues. The tree beside you is
hit and topples, nearly hitting your neighbour's daughter. The
mechanical sound of the boots rises in a crescendo and the beautiful
stream begins running red.

Over the hill, amidst the panic, strong faced young men in uniform march towards you. Your party is rushed to the formerly serene shtettle square where swastikas hang in place of daises from the balconies. The entire shtettle is present and you are barked at by an officer to begin marching.

Your family, together with the Bubbies and Zeidas walk one foot in front of the other for what seems like ages. No one dares stop to tie their shoe for fear of death. As the rain begins to fall and the air cools, you feel like your life has been violated. Every few steps the men in uniform pull a straggler to the side and at point blank range, murder him. Marching into the
forest, the bold trees no longer comfort you. Instead, they stand tall
and defiant, not willing to assist you at your weakest moment. You
want the whole forest to hear but noone is there to witness. Your
community is finally ordered to stop and the healthy men are ordered
forward. Your son is ripped from your arms. You witness your son being
beaten and made to dig with his hands like a dog. You try to cry out
but your husband muzzles you. As the trenches grow, the elders
speculate about the soldiers' orders. Out of nowhere, you hear a
piercing gunshot and horrid screaming. A young boy who had wandered
from his mother had been shot. His mother's screams surround you but
go unanswered. Finally, the entire shtettle is gathered in the ditch
and all you can hear are the words:

***SING*** Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad ***SING***


As the fire rips through your daughter Fagle a tear forms in your
eye. "What have I done to deserve this torture God?" And then, its
over; darkness. Your entire life, community, shtettle; gone. Nothing
remains, not even the memory. A trench in a forest.


THIS IS THE STORY OF THE COMMUNITY OF TIKUCHIN, POLAND

NOTES:

Shtettle - small community made of Jews in Europe. Generally rather poor and mainly farmers. They were spread all over eastern Europe during the early 18th - 20th centuries.

Shema Yisrael... -translation: "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One" - It is the most used and most famous Jewish prayer.


-zzzaacckk
Wow. Felt like a little movie theatre in my head. :confused:

[Riathmus]

OMG... I know how that feels. One of my friends had family who died like that.

[dave04]

We did a unit on the Holocaust in school....after learning what the Nazis done to Jewish prisoners, it filled me with great sadness and also with a great hate for Hitler. Only when you understand what Hitler was trying to do and how he was doing it, can you only then truely compromise the fullness of his atrocities.

One exapmle was that the Nazis would take a Jewish prisoner and torture him/her by tieing a long pipe round their face. Then they would put a rat at the opening of the pipe and set the pipe alight. The only way for the rat to get out was to chew throught the person's face....inevitably killing the Jew.

The pictures i have seen..........naked bodies upon bodies lying outisde the furnaces ready to be incenerated. Hitler's plan was know as the 'final solution'. He wanted to obliterate Jews from the face of the earth. He almost succeded too, killing over 6 million Jews.

Horrific, absolutely terrifying. :(

[Aposter]

And remember, there's still people around who try to deny this happened. I almost feel sorry for their warped minds.

Beautiful work dude.

[Northwind]

That was a powerful piece of writing zzzaacckk. Now the real challenge (for all of us) is how to remain a decent person despite the existance of such evil on the planet.

Thanks for posting this.

[mantis33]

Very nice, felt as if I was actually there. Very nice.

[zzzaacckk]

Wow. Felt like a little movie theatre in my head. :confused:

That was exactly what I was going for. I am sorry to everyone who this story has depressed but this does not compare to the real experiance of going to Poland. I really felt inspired to write this story because normally I do not write that well.

[gryph89]

It is always hard to think that commiting genocide on such a massive level like that is impossible. But no matter how hard the world tries, it will always be there, echoing in the back of the world. For that was all Hitler saw of them, an echo, and echoes stop eventually, such a twisted man he was. Amazing work Zack, really amazing work

[islandersfan4sc]

I'm Jewish and at my Synogogue We have a holocaust survivor that talks to us about his story. It's really sad when you think about all the children killed.