EXCERPT FROM THE LONG NIGHT
Death march to Gross Rosen
“I was approached en route by my relation, Avram Hellmann….As Assistant Kapo, it was his job to keep a record of concentration camp numbers of the inmates who had stayed behind and those who had been shot en route. The Group Leader also marched in the last row, and I personally witnessed how he shot the inmates who could go no further. All that we could do was talk to those who stopped and try to persuade them to keep going. Some of us tried to support those who were staggering. We pulled and dragged them along until they got their second wind, and could continue independently. For others, any help was too late.”
Depiction of a death march. Hellmut Bachrach-Barée (1898-1969), Men from KZ Dachau, 1945. Pencil on paper [Yad Vashem]
