I remember… I remember my beautifully kind mother and her musings about the future success of the Zionist movement (that she was actively a part of) while my dad, a quiet and timid engineer by nature, sat in silent amusement at the joy that was his close and loving family.
I remember… no, no, no, I forget… or at least I want to forget the moment my family was ripped away from any future memories.
First I was dragged and driven to a forced-labor camp just outside my hometown
And then to Auschwitz-Birkenau
And then to the concentration camp, Ravensbrueck
in Germany
and then almost like a full-stop—I and my two sisters were confined to the isolation of the small labour camp, Retzov, until…
Yes now I remember… until we were free again, freed by the Russian soldiers April 1945,
just us sisters 21, 19, and 16--- with our parents no where to
be found.
Who am I without the sweet melody of Chopin to wash away my fears or
The reassuring and loving voices of my parents to wipe away my tears. Who am I?
Oh no, its alright Regina, these are simply the memories of my survival.
I am alive, and now I may live.
Born 1929 Regina Laks in Starachowice, Poland, Holocaust survivor
« return.