Unknown Death Row

Fresh air ... I thought

As I stepped off the cattle type cart , that I had been stuck in for at least three days with over twenty other men and only a bucket for a toilet, I heard the screams of women and children being separated by Nazi SS guards armed with Gewer 88s. The sound was truly sickening, a mix of screams and German demands attacking me from every direction.

All of a sudden and out of no where an SS officer had approached me and the other men around me and told us to leave our belongings where we were and continue walking towards the desks that were occupied by Auschwitz prisoners and officers. On the desks there was a pot of ink, a cloth and a piece of wood with a needle attached to the end of it. The cloth was marked with blue ink stains and blood. I was about the fourth person in the line for one of the desks, but before I knew it, it was my turn.

As I took a seat at the desk, opposite the other prisoner, the officer stood next to him grabbed my arm, pulled up my sleeve and pinned my wrist on the desk. Then I saw the prisoner pick up the piece of wood and point the needle towards my skin. The man powered up at the officer, of which shouted
'vierzehntausend, siebenhundertzweiundachtzig!'  I had no idea what had just been shouted at the man but I do know that it wasn't a positive comment.

As the needle pierced my skin I had the urge to scream but I knew I needed to keep quiet to not cause trouble. The needle tore through my skin, engraving the numbers 1,4,7,8,2 one by one, blood began to stream down into the palm of my hand. The man wiped away the blood with the stained cloth. After that he poured some of the ink over the the wound and then wiped away the excess. Left on my arm was the number 14782 in blue, I didn't know what it meant but I was sure that I'd soon find out.