Wolfgang's Perspective on the World

It was all still a blur to me. Hours upon hours were spent in a cramped, musty boxcar filled to the brim with decaying souls. Life is Auschwitz was difficult, there was no forgiveness, from anyone. I heard by word of mouth from a chain of prisoners that my parents had been gassed upon their arrival. We were separated in seconds with no goodbyes. I cried every day after for weeks. Life was near meaningless for me now. Despite not feeding us adequately, we were used for harcad labor and other war related jobs. Luckily, I got one of the easier jobs. I was put to work in an electrical components factory, sorting parts. During my work I liked to look up through the dingy windows and gaze at the light gray sky. It never seemed to change. I spent months of my life like this. My life was not easy but by behaving and working hard, the Kapos came to appreciate me. They cared enough to direct their brutality towards other prisoners instead of me. I saw group after group come through this...

By 1943, my father and I had ended up in the Southeastern territory of Nice, France. However, during this time Nice was under Italian control. This was a great help because Italians were not interested in persecuting Jews. Life had just begun to turn itself around. I was finally learning a little bit of French and adjusting to my new life which, now included a new stepmom. She was Jewish as well. Nice had become a Jewish refuge in France with over 5,000 Jews.  We had adapted to more open lifestyle, using our real names to book hotels, openly congregating in the streets, having a home that was safe. All of that was lovely until the Germans found out the Italians had signed the armistice and, they began to raid the hotels in Nice.   Germans began deporting more than 1,500 Jews from Nice and I was one of them. When we were loaded onto the trains, we were told we were going to Auschwitz but no one knew of the gas chambers there. Once we had arrived in...

My father has just left us for some other country. Our hearts are heavy today. If he is caught by the Germans he would be thrown in jail for being a socialist. My mother is sick and our family is all trying to take care of each other. It is getting very hard for my Grandmother to take care of Mum. I know I am not supposed to eavesdrop but, today I heard the two of them talk about taking me to an orphanage Today it happened, I was taken to the Jewish orphanage. New laws were just made that prohibited Jews from attending public schools so, I will have to go to a Jewish school now. When I hugged my Mom for the last time, I could not will my body to let go. My Grandma had to pull me away after we said our goodbyes Life at the orphanage is fine albeit dreadful and melancholy without any friends or family. Most of the kids here are very young, it must be so hard for them to understand what's happening. My hope gets crushed time after time without cessation as does the dirt b...

Hello! My name is Wolfgang Munzer. I live in Berlin, Germany with my Mom and Dad. I was born on February 26, 1920 and have just finished secondary school. I am currently 18 and hope to attend university to learn electrical engineering. The electronics and machines in the sewing machines have always interested me. We have a nice apartment in the Southwestern district of Berlin but we hope to move into a bigger house if Papa gets the promotion he's been hoping for.  Papa is the foreign representative for a sewing company. I'm not quite sure what he does but he is always taking business trips all over the continent. I miss him when he is gone but he is a beloved employee, I really hope he gets his promotion.  Our house is nice but I would love to be closer to the library in the center of town. I love to read. I walk an hour each day to admire their books. Most of the other kids play sports but, I was never any good. In a small sense, I was cast out. So, I tur...