Ruth Tennison

Mr. Neuburger ENG 102-127 10 October 2012 Summary David Abrams Holocaust Survivor It is November 4th, 1997 and David Abrams, now 68 years old and living in Brooklyn, testifies about his life and the time that he spent in ghettos, concentration camps, and labor camps during the Holocaust. This is the first time in fifty years that Mr. Abrams has spoken about his personal experience and the atrocities he survived at the hand of the Nazis. Born in Dej, Romania on December 8, 1928 as David Abraham to Joseph and Sarah Abraham he describes his younger years with four sisters and three younger brothers as being busy with school and religious traditions. Eastern Europe was very anti-Semitic and he remembers that the community was excited in 1941 when the Hungarians took over Romania and liberated both the Hungarians and Jews living in Romania. Then in 1943 the Jewish laws were imposed and life became very restrictive and prejudice for the Jewish people. Jews were required to wear a yellow star to identify them and laws were increasingly passed to the point that more restrictions became expected. One Friday the Nazis came to their home and told them they had twenty four hours to prepare to be taken to the ghetto. On Saturday morning they showed up with guns and bayonets to escort them out of their home. After inspection of their two suitcases they were marched about three miles outside of town and given a piece of ground in the woods that was eight by ten feet square. Here they were told to live with no shelter or even basic needs. Mr. Abrams was fifteen years old when the ghettos inhabitants were loaded on a freight train and hauled to Auschwitz

Concentration Camp. The train ride lasted three days with no bathrooms, one loaf of bread and very little water. Under the overcrowded and unhealthy conditions many did not survive the trip. Upon arrival at Auschwitz in June of 1944 they were rushed off the train and split up. After processing which consisted of undressing, having all hair shaved, showered, and given prisoner clothes they were sent to barracks and provided one bowl of food for five to six people to share with no utensils. Work details were assigned for tunneling and moving rocks in which they had to line up for counting, ride a train to work, and then line up again for counting after work. Mr. Abrams survived air raids by hiding in caves from the bombs. He prayed every morning and recalls many near death events. In a final push to completely exterminate the remaining Jews they were marched to another death camp. When they arrived at the camp it was cold, raining and muddy, inside the barrack was completely packed with standing room only. They remained like this for about ten days and then all of a sudden the guards disappeared. The next day American soldiers came and took them to hospitals. (484 words) Mr. Abrams quotes: By the grace of God and many fateful events I managed to survive the most brutal, the most cruel, the most inhumane treatment of human beings in the history of our planet. Gratitude if you have this quality of being grateful you are guaranteed happiness. Without gratitude it is not possible to be happy; with gratitude you cannot help but be happy. There isnt a person in the world no matter how bad off you are that doesnt have something to be grateful for.