Diary found in Auschwitz

"Line up and undress,
You people need a shower,
We don't like a mess",
Shouted the officers of the
Black-clad Waffen SS.
We were pushed into a
Huge bunker's anteroom,
A thousand men,
Women and children into
A windowless place of gloom,
Undressed and stark naked,
We tried to hide our shame
While the SS officers laughed
And seemed to like their game.
Then, we were forced
Into a huge shower room
And when the steel
Doors were locked
We felt a sense of doom,
A peculiar odor was there
And some small bluish deposits
Seemed to be everywhere,
The shower heads were dry
And we wondered why.
Suddenly, through some vent
An acrid, hissing gas
Seemed to descend
With a slight burned almond scent.
We coughed and chocked
And with a desperate shout
We pleaded: "Help us, let us out!"
"They're killing us",
We yelled in fear,
"We'll die right here!"
Soon it quieted down into
A whimper and a whisper,
I dropped my diary
From my shaky hand
And knew, this is my end....

Long after the last sound,
A crew of cleanup Kapos
Came around
To take the bodies for cremation
In the fires of the disposal station
And to get the 'shower room'
Ready and tidied up
To bring the next group
For their final Cyclon B stop.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2008 Alfred Charasz