20
20 The first snow fell during that night and covered the grounds, barracks , and roads. An icy wind blew the snow into deep drifts. Winter stalked the weak, the hungry, and the ill. We stood in frozen rows during the morning roll call. The snow reached over my old shoes and sank in around my bare ankles. I pulled my cap down over my ears and hoped that the Kapo would not persist in the usual repeated demands for us to remove our caps. An SS guard counted us and moved toward the next barracks. Our Kapo told us that all prisoners would work the daylight hours to clear away rubble in the factory. We would work outdoors in the cold, wind, and snow. Our Kapo and his assistants led the prisoners from our barracks in a march toward the factory. Other large columns of prisoners were marching toward the gate. The SS were present in larger numbers than I had seen before. At the factory everything in sight was destroyed or severely damaged. Sections of walls and parts of buildings stood, but most roofs had collapsed. The buildings were filled with twisted steel, blasted masonry , and smoldering rubble. The roads between the buildings and the railroad tracks were blocked with rubble, overturned trucks, and derailed railroad cars. Everything was covered with a thick layer of snow. I was overwhelmed that we would have to clear the wreckage with our bare hands in this wintry cold. Groups of German civilians in high boots, thick long overcoats, and fur hats directed the work. We were divided into smaller groups and assigned to specific jobs. I was with a group of about sixty prisoners ordered to clear a road. We picked up big heavy segments of brick walls and carried them to a vacant lot. We labored for hours in the cold and the snow. I tried to work fast to keep from freezing. I never got warm, only 187 tired quickly. At noon we were given a short break and a small portion of soup. We stood about, stamping our feet, and rubbing our hands to keep from freezing. Soon we were ordered to resume clearing the rubble . I carried cold bricks and stones with my stiff, aching, frozen hands. My shoes were soaked, and I felt pieces of ice form between the wooden soles and my naked feet. It was dark when we stopped working. The Kapo and SS counted us, and we were marched back to camp. We did not really march; we limped and staggered. Several prisoners could not walk all the way back to the camp, and we carried them among us. At the gate each group of prisoners had to stand and wait until we were counted again. Nothing in the rubble was worth stealing, but the guards, dressed in military winter coats, boots, and fur gloves, stripped down some prisoners and searched them. In the barracks a fire was burning in the potbellied stove. The soup and bread were distributed at the tables. No one debated the sizes of the bread slices. I was worn out and eager to lie down. I swallowed my bowl of soup, stuck my slice of bread into my jacket, and almost ran to the bunk that I shared with Schipper. He was already lying down. He looked horrible, and his coughing was much worse. I pulled my tattered blanket over my head and quickly fell asleep. The Kapo awoke us early the next morning with the blast of his whistle. It was dreadful to wake up knowing that I had to face another day in the cold and snow. I was horrified to realize that I had lost a button from my threadbare uniform. My shoes were still wet and cold from the previous day’s exposure. We were ordered outside for roll call. In the darkness of the breaking day we marched through the snow to the factory grounds. I was again assigned to dig in the icy rubble with my bare hands and carry bricks. All around me prisoners stumbled and slipped on the icy roads. The SS cursed and yelled for us to work. Sometimes they pushed a prisoner to make him slip and fall while he carried the heavy loads. I thought for sure that this would be the final day for many of us to survive. I was lucky that afternoon. I found a few pieces of torn cloth from the factory blackout curtains...
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