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16 The boxcar doors were pulled open. My legs were stiff and numb from the days and nights on the floor. I tried to pull myself up to stand as the Germans began to shout and violently pull the prisoners out of the boxcar. “Out! Fast, you pigs! You shit dogs! Out! Line up to be counted!” I stumbled out of the boxcar and fell to the ground. I struggled to stand on my unsteady legs. A few prisoners were still lying on the floor of the boxcar. They had died along the way. Armed SS guards, with their vicious barking dogs, surrounded us. Several prisoners with Kapo armbands and black caps stood nearby. The white patches sewn to their jackets bore stenciled numbers and green triangles . The Kapos ordered us to quickly line up to be counted. I pushed deep into the group, trying to find a place in the middle of a row. I needed to clear my head and prepare for what I was to face. I looked around. We were at a small railroad station in a village surrounded by mountains. A sign on one of the buildings gave the German name of a town. On one high hill stood the ruins of a large, old stone castle. It was gutted and ruined but still looked ominous. We pleaded with the Kapos for water. They told us that we were on the way to Flossenbürg concentration camp and would get plenty of water there. The Kapo spoke German . I knew that we must be in Germany, in the den of the beast. After we were counted, the SS men marched us out of the station. We passed through a small village lined with large stone houses. Some villagers came out of their houses to watch. They were mostly old men and a few women and children. They stood silently and looked upon us with cold angry eyes. The SS guards cursed and yelled for us to march in step, and when we could not, they kicked at our ankles. An SS man kept repeating , “Jews. Yes, damned Jews. We never had Jews in Flossenbürg. We will have fun. Hah!” We marched on a narrow road that led up a 146 mountain. Soon we could see the camp. It was nestled against the side of the rocky mountain, with the castle ruins towering above. We passed through the main gate and were halted in a large open yard in front of a two-story gray building. In every direction were barracks of all sizes and more large stone buildings. The camp was surrounded by high wire fences and tall, massive stone guard towers. Some prisoners fell down from exhaustion and struggled vainly to get up. The Kapos were shouting that we were to remain standing in ranks. After a while they gave up and let us stay on the ground. Other prisoners in striped uniforms brought us large buckets full of water. I jumped up, got in line, and held out my bowl, which they filled with water. I lifted the bowl to my lips and drank in gulps. An SS sergeant stood on the steps of the stone building . He said that Flossenbürg was an orderly and strict concentration camp where everyone had to work hard, where disobedience was swiftly and severely punished, and where cleanliness of persons, buildings , and the camp was of the utmost importance. Anyone caught with even one louse would be harshly punished. He told us that each of us would be given a shower before we would be sent to a barracks. He pointed to a Kapo and told us that he would be in charge of us. The Kapo had a low four-digit number and a green triangle on his uniform . “You stinking pig-dogs must take a shower before I let you go to the barracks,” the Kapo commanded and pointed to a door in the building . “The shower room is in here. I will send a hundred of you at a time to the showers, and I want you to be fast! Now, everyone stand up and line up in rows of five! Fast!” I got into line with the other prisoners. I had heard that the Germans tricked prisoners into the gas chambers by telling them that they were going to shower. My God, I thought. Do not let it happen. I looked around and saw panic in the eyes of the other...
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