I.

Somehow, some way, I have managed to elude the Nazis, but for how long ... well, that is another matter entirely.  I wonder how long I can hide out without being discovered ...

Being in this camp, it's hard to do, but somehow I do it.  Good thing I'm little and small for my age: gives me extra advantage.  I may be 11 1/2 going on twelve, but I look more like 8 or 9.  

Yet I know that they know I am here because I am present for every roll call.  I come out of hiding at the appointed time and pretend I am working hard, be it picking up heavy rocks, carrying them from one side to the other repeatedly, but I do it and do it well to avoid punishment.  I also try not to look at them directly in the eye because I am sure they'll punish me for that too.  If they find out that I am blind, I will be condemned to a swift death in the gas chambers if I am not shot or beaten to death first.  There are a thousand different methods use to put people to death and I'm not about to take any chances.

On the inside, however, I am raging, and my mind is racing.  I am trying to think of ways to escape, but knowing if I do I will surely die, be it by the dogs or by the Nazi thugs themselves.

II.

I am kept so busy from daybreak until late at night I often don't think of my family.  I know they must be dead and gone by now.  How I miss them ... I miss them terribly.

Today I saw a little girl no more than two get shot because she was born with weakened legs.  She fell and the Nazi thugs were upon her like a dog goes to a bone.  They shot her right in the head, point blank, and at close range.  I saw her brains fly out.  It was all I could do to keep from gettng sick myself, but I managed to fight the bile rising from my throat.  I have no idea who she was, excepting that she was a Gypsy child.  I am sure her parents are gone too, or her family ...

I also saw a little boy about seven get hung because he ended up lying to the Nazis and they found out.  They grabbed him roughly, made him stand on a chair as they tied a rope around his head, and then kicked the chair out from beneath him.  The boy's small body jerked as his neck broke, and then he was still, forever silenced.  He was no longer alive.  The Nazis then untied him and tossed his body aside, where the dogs then started feasting on him.  It was highly disturbing, yet I had to pretend it didn't bother me a bit, when it actually did.  

These two children did not deserve to die in the brutal manner they did, but then again, when you are dealing with the Nazis and they are over you, well, then there is no other alternative except pray for death to come to you or do their bidding, even though you may not agree with them.

III.

These Nazis don't have any mercy upon us.  They know they can lord it over us that they are better than us and that we are lower than animals.  They are ruthless, cruel.  

They disgust me.  I see what they have done, or are doing, and I am sure they are the reason behind my family's disappearance.  I wouldn't put it past them .... if I could just get a hold of a knife or a gun and shoot one of them, but then again, if I did, then I would be put to death quickly myself.  So there is no way out .... it's getting to the point to where I don't even care any more ... I might be better off if I die myself.

~To be continued!~