Arbeit Macht Frei

            Paul was eleven years old when Hitler rose to power. Hitler claimed it was the Jewish people’s fault that Germany was poor in the aftermath of World War I. Jews, he said, had money because they had tricked others into paying more than something was worth and that this hurt the German economy. Jewish people tended to be shop owners and business operators. They were not overcharging, rather, they saved the money they earned and spent it only on necessities. Paul’s father was a book shop owner. Paul was reading in the store when the police came. They took his father.

            Paul’s father had not committed any crime. The only crime Paul’s father committed was being Jewish, the religion he had grown up with. The rest of Paul’s family was soon taken to a concentration camp.

            The camp was a huge rectangular area of land surrounded by two fences with guard towers in several places armed with soldiers. There were small dugouts with shelf like areas for sleeping. These dugouts had no windows or electricity. They were made to house maybe thirty to forty people, but over a hundred were crowded in. Over the gate were the words “Arbeit Macht Frei,” Work makes you free. On the way entering the camp were several army soldiers, crudely branding black numbers onto the forearms of every prisoner. Paul thought, “Is that what I am now? A prisoner? What crime have i committed!” But he knew the answer to the last question. In the center of the camp was a single well. Food came every few days in the form of stale bread pieces. Paul knew he and his family would not live through this.

            After several months, Paul’s mother fell ill. He knew from his schooling his mother suffered from malnutrition. That was obvious by how small she had grown. Paul worried because any easily cured sickness could kill everyone in these harsh conditions and cramped living spaces. The army must have thought something similar because they started something new.