Stephen Shooster
Armband of a Kapo
weeks, when there was yet another selection held around the whole camp. Going to the infirmary, in my poor shape, most likely saved my life. It was a big selection and, again, at least half of the Jewish prisoners went to the gas chamber. New deliveries of people arrived all the time. The blocks would never be empty for long. I was lucky to be in the infirmary. I met the blockleiter. It was none other than Mendel Scherer, another old neighbor, and the same young man that was picked in the first hostage-taking of Grybow when the Judenrat made its feeble last stand and was mowed down. He asked, “How are you doing?” I was weak. It was easy to see this place was killing me. He understood the diarrhea and general illness, but I also reported to him the beatings. He bristled in anger. Then he asked, “How did you get here?” There was no good answer, but I told him about Grybow and picking up the bodies, and the roadwork, and Tarnow, and Goth’s boots, and being plucked from the mass grave, and Szebnie, and my horse, Maciek, and Tadeusz, and the naked transport, and Katarzynski -- the bastard, and Wiktor. Together, we ate from a barrel of soup and had a little bread. We had plenty of time to talk. There was also a little extra food while I was there; the people who died left theirs. After 4 weeks, I felt a little stronger, but I had to leave. I went back to Wiktor and pleaded with him to find me a permanent job. He said I have to send you away until I can do this. I trusted Wiktor. Good jobs were scarce. Wiktor saved Roman and Simon by assigning them to Kommando Canada, but I was too young to be considered. He said, “Leon, I am sending you to Block 28. You must wait there until I can get you assigned to Buna.” I asked, “What is Buna?” He said, “A ticket out of here.” It is the factories close by. That is where you can survive. Just hang on until I can get you there. I had already beat the odds by 2 weeks. But I did not want to take any more chances.
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