Stephen Shooster ment, I know to be true. Where I’m hazy is I’m not sure if anything different would have happened if anyone would have stepped out of line, no one did. While the men remained assembled, trucks arrived, and everyone was loaded on board. Just as before, the trucks drove a short distance to the nearby woods where all the prisoners were or- dered to get out, were lined up, and executed. Do you remember the free Polish man who worked with me at the stable? The fellow who checked for me if I escaped would the underground accept me? After the war, I saw him again. This is how I learned what happened to Moshe Blauner and the rest. This is how I lost one of my best friends. Szebnie is where his story ended, but mine still had a long way to go.
Chapter Seven The Cattle Car
Naked and frantic we felt ourselves being jammed tightly against each other until every inch of space in the cattle car was filled. I could hardly breathe, and I could feel others gasping for breath as well. The car was dark, and the mass of humanity struggled to adjust itself to allow each individual to have a bit of space. The weak quickly succumbed. As they lost consciousness, they slipped to the floor and died. The space they had occupied gave the living a little more room. The lifeless bodies couldn’t help but be trampled underfoot. The torture was over for them. The floor of the car was covered in straw and lime. It did not take long for the stench of human waste to permeate our sealed and rolling tomb. There in the darkness, we stood, beyond hope, having no idea where we were going other than the sadistic clue from Kommandant Grzimek, “A very hot place.” For me, the only consolation was that my dear friend, Moshe Katz, was in the car with me. Although we had plenty of time to say goodbye, our only conversation was about how to survive. We remained trapped in this inhuman prison for three days and nights, although the length of the journey was only about 100 miles. Our train must have had the lowest priority because we watched other trains speed past us. For us, time was measured in moments and each moment was an eternity. We were exhausted, naked, without food or water, and resigned to whatever fate had planned for us. I thought for sure I would soon see my dead family. No one could have imagined what would happen next.
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