Shoah

1

[Srebnik Singing In Polish]

A little white house

Lingers in my memory;

Of that little white house

I dream each night;

The windows of that little house

Beautifully shine in the sun

As if someone's eyes

Were filling with tears

There was so much happiness

in that little house

And so many joyous days

When I remember

those blissful moments

My heart trembles

A little white house

Lingers in my memory;

Of that little white house

I dream each night;

[ Man #1 Speaking Polish]

- [ Man #2 Speaking Polish]

- [ Man #1 Continues ]

[ Female Interpreter, In French]

He was 13 1/2 years old.

He had a lovely singing voice

and we heard him.

A little white house

Lingers in my memory;

Of that little white house

I dream each night;

The windows of that little house

Beautifully shine in the sun

As if someone's eyes

Were filling with tears

[ Man #3 Speaking Polish]

[ Interpreter, In French]

When I heard him again, my heart beat faster,

because what happened

here... was a murder.

I really relived what happened.

[ Sighs, Coughs ]

[ In German]

it's hard to recognize, but it was here.

They burned people here.

A lot of people were burned here.

Yes, this is the place.

[ Crow Caws ]

No one ever left here again.

The gas vans came in here...

There were two huge ovens,

[ Sighs ]

And afterward,

the bodies were thrown

into these ovens,

and the flames reached to the sky.

- [ Lanzmann, In German ] To the sky?

- Ja.

It was terrible.

No one can describe it.

No one can...

recreate what happened here.

Impossible!

And no one can understand it.

Even I, here, now.

I can't believe I'm here.

No, I just can't believe it.

It was always this peaceful here.

When they burned 2,000 people...

Jews... every day,

it was just as peaceful.

No one shouted.

Everyone went about his work.

It was silent. Peaceful.

Just as it is now.

[ Srebnik Singing In German]

[Cattle Lowing ]

You, girl, don't you cry;

Don't be so sad

For the dear summer is nearing

And I'll return with it

A mug of red wine, a slice of roast

That's what the girls

give their soldiers

[ Continues ]

When the soldiers march along

The girls open their doors and windows

[ Continues ]

[ Man #1 Speaking Polish]

[ Interpreter, In French] They thought

the Germans made him sing on the river.

- [ Man #2 Speaking Polish]

- [ Man #3 Speaking Polish]

He was a toy to amuse them.

- [ Man #2 Continues]

- He had to do it.

He sang, but his heart wept.

[ Lanzmann, In French]

Do their hearts weep thinking about that now?

- [ Men Reply]

- [ Interpreter] Certainly, very much so.

[ Man #2 Continues]

They still talk about it

around the family table.

[ Man #2 Continues]

It was public, so everyone knew of it.

I Polish 1

[ Interpreter]

He said that was true German irony,

people were being killed,

and he had to sing.

That's what I thought.

[ Lanzmann ]

What died in him in Chelmno?

[Speaking Yiddish ]

[ Female Interpreter #2, In French]

Everything died.

But he's only human,

and he wants to live.

So he must forget.

The other survivor:

MICHAEL PODCHLEBNIK - ISRAEL

[ Interpreter #2 Speaking Yiddish ]

He thanks God for what remains

and that he can forget.

And let's not talk about that.

[ Lanzmann ]

Does he think it's good to talk about it?

[ Interpreter #2 Speaking Yiddish ]

For me it's not good.

[ Lanzmann]

Then why is he talking about it?

[ Interpreter #2 Speaking Yiddish ]

Because you're insisting on it.

He was sent books on the Eichmann trial,

where he was a witness,

and he didn't even read them.

[ Lanzmann]

He survived, but is he really alive, or...?

[ Interpreter #2 Speaking Yiddish ]

At the time, he felt as if he were dead,

because he never thought he'd survive,

but... he's alive.

[ Lanzmann ]

Why does he smile all the time?

[ Interpreter #2 Speaking Yiddish ]

What do you want him to do... cry?

Sometimes you smile, sometimes you cry.

And if you're alive, it's better to smile.

[ Lanzmann, In French]

Why was she so curious about this story?

[ Female Interpreter #3, In Hebrew]

[Speaking Hebrew]

HANNA ZATDL:

- ISRAEL -

Daughter of Motke Zaidl,

survivor of Vilna (Lithuania)

[ Interpreter #3, In French]

it's a long story.

As a child,

I had little contact with my father.

He went out to work,

and I didn't see much of him.

Besides, he was a silent man,

he didn't talk to me.

And when I grew up

and was strong enough to face him,

I questioned him.

I never stopped questioning him

until I got at the scraps of truth

he couldn't tell me.

It came out haltingly.

I had to tear the details out of him,

and finally, when Mr. Lanzmann came,

I heard the whole story

for the second time.

MOTKE ZATDL:

BEN SHEMEN FOREST (ISRAEL)

[ Motke Speaking Hebrew]

[ Interpreter #3, In French]

The place resembles Ponary: the forest, the ditches.

It's as if the bodies were burned here.

Except there were no stones in Ponary.

Ponary:
forest where most

of the Vilna Jews were massacred

[ Lanzmann, In French]

But the Lithuanian forests

are denser than the Israeli forest, no?

[ Interpreter #3 Speaking Hebrew]

- [ Motke Replies]

- Of course.

[ Motke Continues]

The trees are similar,

but taller and fuller in Lithuania.

FOREST OF THE EXTERMINATION CAMP

AT SOBIBOR (POLAND)

[ Lanzmann, In French]

ls there still hunting here in Sobibor forest?

[ Interpreter #1 Speaking Polish]

[ Man Speaking Polish]

[ Interpreter #1, In French]

Yes, there are lots of animals of all kinds.

[ Lanzmann ]

Was there hunting then?

[ Interpreter #1 Speaking Polish]

[ Man Replies]

Only man hunting.

JAN PIWONSKI:

Some victims tried to escape.

But they didn't know the area.

At times people heard explosions

in the minefield.

Sometimes they'd find a deer

and sometimes a poor Jew

who tried to escape.

[ Piwonski Continues ]

That's the charm of our forests:

silence and beauty.

[ Piwonski Continues]

But it wasn't always so silent here.

There was a time

when it was full of screams

and gunshots,

of dogs' barking.

[ Piwonski Continues]

And that period especially

is engraved on the minds of the people

who lived here then.

[ Piwonski Continues]

After the revolt, the Germans

decided to liquidate the camp,

and early in the winter of 1943,

they planted pines

that were three or four years old

to camouflage all the traces.

That screen of trees?

- Tak.

- Yes.

[ Lanzmann ]

That's where the mass graves were?

[ Interpreter #1 Speaking Polish]

- Tak.

- Oui.

[ Piwonski Continues]

When he first came here in 1944,

you couldn't guess

what had happened here,

that these trees were hiding

the secret of a death camp.

[ Lanzmann ] How did he react,

the first time he unloaded corpses,

when the gas van doors were opened?

[ Interpreter #2 Speaking Yiddish ]

What could he do? He cried.

The 3rd day,

he saw his wife and children.

He placed his wife

in the grave and asked to be killed.

The Germans said

he was strong enough to work,

that he wouldn't be killed yet.

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