Preface

Many years have passed since I wrote my autobiography, Fragments of a Life: the road to Auschwitz, and the subsequent books. Since then, I have lectured in schools and universities with the strong conviction that the younger generation must keep the memory of the Holocaust alive if we want to ensure that it is never repeated. What has happened once may unfortunately happen again, if not in exactly the same way. To prevent this, it is important to remember; the past leaves its mark on the present and casts its shadow over the future.

In the beginning of September 1940, Northern Transylvania was returned to Hungary from Romania. At first, I was in despair. The persecution of Jews began, although there was not yet a direct threat to our lives. It did not take long, however, until news came from Romania that Jews there were being sent to Ukraine, where they were forced to dig their own graves before being shot. Then I was happy that we belonged to Hungary. I grew accustomed to our reduced circumstances, and was glad that we were no longer under Romanian rule. I can still see myself knitting woollen socks for the poor souls who were transported in freezing trains from Romania to Ukraine, in the middle of winter, who had not been allowed to bring any warm clothing. Then came March 1944, the invasion of the Germans, and now I had every reason to mourn that we no longer belonged to Romania. The Romanians did not hand over their Jews to the Germans; instead they were paid $100 for every person who was allowed to leave for Israel.

In the end, I was one of the lucky ones. I was lucky many times over.

My luck began at the time of our arrival to Auschwitz, where my sister and I survived the selection and were spared from the gas chambers. Fortuitous events then repeated themselves several times during my year in captivity. Most importantly, I did not end up in one of the worst labour camps.

From Auschwitz, I was sent to three different labour camps, where we were usually tasked with clearing up among the ruins. Many others were placed in camps where they had to work in shifts in underground factories, mines, or quarries. Several times, I found myself in situations when I was certain that my last moment had come, but something happened, and I survived.

In the camps, you never knew if a change would mean life or death. Though sometimes you don’t know that in everyday life, either. We live a quiet life, the days go by, we don’t notice anything. The change occurs little by little until the picture is suddenly clear and we wonder: how could this have happened? Life teaches us that everything can change in a moment, and you never know beforehand whether the change is going to lead to something better or worse.

My school lectures usually consist of three parts, with emphasis on the third. They start with an attempt to portray the people of the past and their living conditions, which contributed to making the Holocaust possible; they continue with the story of my own experiences; and they end with ample time for questions.

I stress that there are no stupid questions, nor any forbidden ones, but that some questions have no answer. There is, for example, no single answer to the question ‘Why did the Holocaust happen?’ This makes the other questions surrounding it all the more important.

I have gathered the most common questions that I am asked in this book, to help those who want to know more about the Holocaust. My hope is that it will be read by and benefit the young people of today and of tomorrow.

The aim of this book is to teach us to avoid historical mistakes. I hope that it can make everyone who reads it see that we are not predestined to step into the role of either perpetrator or bystander. As individuals, we have a will and a responsibility, and only by taking that responsibility can we avoid history repeating itself once again.

Hédi Fried, December 2016 (updated July 2018)