Irving Shapiro Writings (Numbered, black pen) Dotan, Lisabeth Kohen, Ari Transcription and encoding Weakly, Laura K. Hanson, Abigail L. 2023 Nebraska Stories of Humanity University of Nebraska-Lincoln Center for Digital Research in the Humanities
319 Love Library University of Nebraska–Lincoln Lincoln, NE 68588-4100 cdrh@unl.edu
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 Irving Shapiro Writings (Numbered, black pen) Shapiro, Irving English Stories Irving Shapiro Miedzyrzec, Poland Lublin, Poland Majdanek concentration camp Transcription and initial encoding 8

yelling singing and fighting with the others. My mother wanted my brother to bring in my father from the other place. if we have to die lets die together. she said. The other people in the shelter did not allow any moving in or out we migh be spoted and reported.(The children fell aslepasleep and we the older ones sat codled to one another hungry an quotetremblingSudenly there were steps on the stairs and yellsshouting from the next door attic. Out you damn bandids. the child with thecaughtstarted up coughing again, and the mother tryed franticly to silence her with no success. A 19 year old boy nearby the people in our part wereafraid of beeing found out. and shot,so a 19 year old boy next to the child choked her todeadsoon the child was silenced by her mother

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We also watched has young boys and girls where taking around SS troopers and showing them the hiding places of the Jews So as maby they will be spared.

Shortly after a older German soldier bend over close to me and whispered. You arenot going to be shot you are going to Maidanek. Soon we were ordered to stand up and be ready to march. We took our mother in beetwen of us to help her along. I looked if I could spot my father but with no luck. Later I found out he was shot in town. They marched us to the railroad station like sheep. The sidewalks were lined with polish people bitting us good bey, some of them. even with tears in their eyes. They loaded us in closed box cars like cattle.

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Shut and locked the doors, wired up the little windows, and we were off God knows where. In the box cars there started a fear of dead we wanted to live live live. We were packed like sardines. The thirst was unberable. the box cars started to move and no one expected to return to Mezrith ever. In spite of our rezignation there still was some humanity left in us. A for people made room so as the wounded could lay down. We also started as discution how to not willingly go to the slather. We decided to buy off the Lithuanian gard and for him to look the other way while we jumped of the train. We started to collect waulables and handed to him through the small opening. After he accepted the goods some of us started to cut a hole in the door with knifes close to the latch.

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All of a sudden a baradge of bullets hit some of us through the small opening and a grate number of the people fell dead. We new then that this all was in vain Sudenly a mens voice started yelling: We are not going to Tremblinca the dead camp. I recognize the country side and this is the way to a labor concentration camp Maidanek-Lublin. You can imagine the excitement and "happyness." The only question remained how many of us are still alive in the wagons. We got to our destination-unloaded-selected forwho shalllive & die. took our closth off searched and the youngthroughen in to the camp to "work".