The Last Jew of Treblinka Quotes

“All were expecting to die, and every day of their life was a day of suffering and torment. All had witnessed terrible crimes, and the Germans would have spared none of them; the gas chambers awaited them. Most, in fact, were sent to the gas chambers after only a few days of work, and were replaced by people from new contingents. Only a few dozen people lived for weeks and months, rather than for days and hours; these were skilled workers, carpenters and stonemasons, and the bakers, tailors and barbers who ministered to the Germans' everyday needs. These people created an Organizing Committee for an uprising. It was of course, only the already-condemned, only people possessed by an all-consuming hatred and a fierce thirst for revenge, who could have conceived such an insane plan. They did not want to escape until they had destroyed Treblinka. And they destroyed it.”
― Chil Rajchman, The Last Jew of Treblinka

“I become almost wild and shout at them: - To whom are you reciting Kaddish? Do you still believe? And what do you believe, whom are you thinking? Are you thanking the Lord for his mercy and taking away our brothers and sisters, our fathers and mothers? No, no! It is not true; there is no God. If there were a God, he would not allow such misfortune, such transgression, where innocent small children, only just born, or killed, by people who want only to to honest work and make themselves useful to the world are killed! and you, living witnesses of the great misfortune, remain thankful. Whom are you thanking?”
― Chil Rajchman, The Last Jew of Treblinka

“I look around and think: Good God, what kind of hell is this?”
― Chil Rajchman, The Last Jew of Treblinka

“He cannot forgive himself for having saved himself when his wife and child went to their deaths we are all as if drugged. Yesterday all of my family were living and now - all are dead. Each of us stands as if turn to stone. I weep for my fate, for what I have left to see.”
― Chil Rajchman, The Last Jew of Treblinka

“What the Nazis did to Jews as Jews at these killing centers—exterminate them in millions on arrival—did not easily serve existing agendas at the time.”
― Chil Rajchman, The Last Jew of Treblinka: A Memoir

“The blood of tens of thousands of victims, unable to rest, thrust itself upwards to the surface.”
― Chil Rajchman, The Last Jew of Treblinka: A Memoir

“I weep for my fate, for what I have left to see.”
― Chil Rajchman, The Last Jew of Treblinka

“First night in the barracks. Moyshe Ettinger tells us how he saved himself and cannot forgive himself. The evening prayer is recited and Kaddish is set for the dead.”
― Chil Rajchman, The Last Jew of Treblinka

“We are at once put to work sorting. My friend Leybl stands next to me. We inspect every garment as carefully as possible. On the other side of me stands a worker who has already been here for several days. I want to find out from him what happened here, since, despite the fact that I can see the clothes left behind by the victims, I still cannot grasp what is going on.”
― Chil Rajchman, The Last Jew of Treblinka

“I have no notion of barbering and no idea what will happen if I cannot do the work. But I tell myself that after all it cannot be worse than dying…”
― Chil Rajchman, The Last Jew of Treblinka

“An older woman begs me to tell her if all the men are kept alive as labourers. She knows that she is going to her death. Still, she will be happy if her son, who came with her, remains alive. I calm her with my answer and she thanks me.”
― Chil Rajchman, The Last Jew of Treblinka

“I am as if paralysed: over there in the chamber the gas people and we are supposed to sing!”
― Chil Rajchman, The Last Jew of Treblinka

“The time had passed when each new day was bright,
precious and unique: the future stood before us,
grey amd shapeless, like an impenetrable barrier.
For us, history had stopped.
PRIMO LEVI”
― Chil Rajchman, The Last Jew of Treblinka

“It is the writer’s duty to tell the terrible truth,
and it is a reader’s civic duty to learn this truth.
To turn away, to close one’s eyes and walk past
is to insult the memory of those who have perished.”
VASILY GROSSMAN”
― Chil Rajchman, The Last Jew of Treblinka

“Once, when I straighten up, I am beaten till I bleed.
I no longer know where I am in the world.”
― Chil Rajchman, The Last Jew of Treblinka