"They're watching me." "I don't know how long I was there." "I stayed alive by thinking of the ones I loved." "Allegra." "You're impossible." "You're delicious." "You taste like apricots." "Poppa." "My brother, Avram, and my best friend, Jacko." "Salamo." "Jacko and I boxed together ever since we were kids on the docks." "You got it." "You drop your guard." "He thinks you're tired, so that brings him in." "Slip what's coming, then over with a straight right." "That's the punch." "What I cared about most was fighting and winning." "Come on!" "Champion!" "Yes!" "One, two...." "Back to your corner!" "Three, four five, six seven, eight, nine, ten." "Salamo!" "Ladies and gentlemen the winner and the new middleweight champion of the Balkans Salonika's own Salamo Arouch!" "Then the Nazis occupied Greece." "We couldn't eat in cafes like everyone else." "We couldn't ride in cars and buses." "We couldn't even walk on the streets of our own city." "Our homes and jobs were taken away, and we were forced to live in ghettos." "Anyone found outside the walls was shot." "It's tomorrow morning!" "We're leaving, 6:00 sharp." "The train station, 6:00!" "One suitcase apiece is all you're allowed!" "Tomorrow morning at 6:00, the train station!" "What is it?" "Train station, 6:00 in the morning!" "Every day, we were taken by the SS to do forced labor." "We're being shipped out." "Everyone goes." "When?" "Tomorrow, 6:00 in the morning." "You see, the rumors were right." "Where are they sending us?" "Who knows." "Won't be the Riviera, you can bet on that." "Baby, come to Grandpa." "Don't cry." "As long as we're together, it's not the end of the world." "Come on, we have to pack." "Poppa, I want to marry Sarah tonight before we go." "There's no time." "We love each other." "No!" "Maybe they'll let us stay together." "Come, Salamo." "We have to pack." "For once in your life, will you listen to me?" "Why shouldn't they get married?" "Where are you going?" "l'll be back." "We don't have much time!" "I believe in a high and eternal justice that is helping us." "Even when I was an unknown little soldier, I believed it couldn't be possible that my people were bound to go down." "And because I believed in the help of a higher creature that's why I started my struggle as a small and quite unknown quantity in this big German Reich." "Allegra and her family were hiding in another part of the city." "The safest place for us to meet was in the darkness of a movie theater." "It is impossible my people will go down." "And are now more entitled than before to live in peace." "I missed you so much." "A thousand times, I wished my family had stayed in the ghetto instead of hiding." "You still taste like apricots." "I can't bear not knowing where you'll be." "Jacko left." "He has joined the partisans." "He didn't show up for relocation and the SS shot his family." "Hitler has now finished his speech, and all together the company is singing." "I better go." "I have to go." "May I see your documents, please?" "Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe who has sanctified us by thy commandments." "Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who sanctifieth thy people Israel by the sacred covenant of the wedding." "Do you have the rings?" "Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God King of the Universe, who hast created joy and gladness mirth and exultation pleasure and delight." "They promised us a new life in Poland." "Momma brought her best silver, Poppa took the family photo album." "Move to your assigned car." "Remain calm!" "Do as you are told, and everything will be all right!" "Please move quickly!" "Where are the children?" "I'm over here!" "Quickly!" "Quickly!" "For six days and nights we traveled." "People suffered, and many died." "We didn't know it then, but we were just one family among more than 12 million people who were sent to 1,000 concentration camps across Europe." "Our destination was the death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau." "Get off!" "Put your luggage here inside." "Shut up!" "Don't talk!" "Get off!" "Salamo!" "Poppa." "Put your luggage inside." "Salamo!" "Julie!" "Poppa!" "Poppa!" "No!" "No!" "Poppa!" "Beppo!" "Poppa!" "Beppo!" "Beppo, what is it?" "My father's sick." "They took him away!" "Where's your sister?" "Elena!" "Where are you taking her?" "No." "Sarah!" "Avram." "How old are you?" "12." "No, you are 16." "Momma, where are you?" "Right." "Left." "Left." "Your age?" "16." "16." "Right." "Left." "What kind of work do you do?" "Stevedore." "Left." "Left." "Left." "Do you know this woman?" "She's my mother." "Give your child to her." "You will work, and your child and her grandmother will be sent to a health camp where they will be comfortable." "Can I stay with my child?" "Yes." "Thank you." "Where are they taking them?" "Things will be better now." "First, you will be going into the bathhouse where you will shower and be disinfected." "Then, you will go into the camp where your families will join you." "Remember your numbers so you can pick up your clothing later." "Please tie your shoes together and place them on the floor under your number." "Let's take off your shoes." "Please hurry." "We have a lot to do." "Soon you will enjoy a hot shower." "Place all your personal possessions on the blanket." "Watches rings, money keys everything." "Anyone found with anything on his person will be shot." "Now, take off all your clothing." "Please take off your clothes." "No talking!" "I said no talking!" "What is he saying?" "Quiet!" "Line up!" "Row of five, over there!" "Move!" "Move!" "Row one!" "Right hand!" "I said right hand!" "Listen. I'm only going to say this once." "For those that can hear me, tell the rest." "First come the SS, our lord and masters." "Then comes our block Altester, Kyr." "Then comes the assistants, Otto and me." "Then come the rats." "Then come the lice." "And then come you." "You have but one purpose to work and obey orders." "Sick man here!" "Shut up!" "This man needs help!" "l said shut up!" "Kyr." "Come here." "into the barracks." "You'll be assigned places." "Move!" "You'll be assigned the bottom bunks!" "Remember them!" "Let's go!" "Remember these places!" "You have five minutes till roll call." "Hey, Greek." "You can put him in my place down here." "Watch your head." "Just breathe deeply." "Your side's a little swollen." "You may have a cracked rib." "My name is Janush." "I'm Polish, but I speak a little of your tongue." "Kapo Kyr uses people like punching bags." "He fight to entertain the SS." "He's Maj. Rauscher's prized one." "Roll call." "We must go." "All." "You exit quickly, Greeks." "I can't take this." "Elena remember that summer we spent on Crete?" "You had a boyfriend." "What was his name?" "I know what you're up to." "I don't want to play." "I can't do this." "Yes, you can." "Damn it!" "Get up!" "Momma and Julie." "Please God, they're all right." "They're strong, Poppa." "They'll be all right." "Come here." "You." "Why were they hanged?" "The resistance." "They were my friends." "You do what I say." "Remember and learn." "Janush." "You know everything." "Where do they take the women?" "Do you ever see them?" "Sometimes on work details." "And the children?" "Tell us." "What about the children?" "They're gone." "Gone?" "Gone where?" "Where?" "Go to sleep." "You need your rest." "Here comes the Gypsy." "Get him out." "Get him out!" "What are you doing?" "l'm starving." "l'm hungry, too." "Just a little more." "You had yours." "l know how you feel." "How can you know how I feel?" "I'm pregnant." "He wants you on the truck." "1939, the Balkan Championship was quite a long time ago." "The Sturmbannfuhrer wants to know where you've fought since." "A few bouts in the Greek Army." "Nothing since the war." "But I'm still strong, and I've never lost a fight." "May I ask the Sturmbannfuhrer a question?" "Go ahead." "The 1936 Olympics you were there, weren't you?" "I was with the Greek Olympic team." "I saw you fight." "You, sir sehr gut." "You told us you never lost a fight." "So where is your gold medal?" "The Sturmbannfuhrer says you must understand the officers bet on these fights." "There is much money at stake, and the Sturmbannfuhrer wants to win." "Please tell the Sturmbannfuhrer that I will win for him." "He can bet his life on it." "I've been to Salonika, before the war." "It's beautiful." "How many rounds?" "Rounds?" "No rounds." "You fight till one goes down and can't get up." "Pass it over so I can have my share." "I fought for it. lt's mine." "Connection in this place could help you stay alive." "Your father's strong, but what is he 55, 56?" "Just a matter of time before he starts to fail." "Poppa I got a prize for wining." "Are you all right?" "Yes." "Avram." "Give us a piece." "Please." "Please." "Come on!" "You know us." "Please." "Salamo." "Thank you." "One for Danny." "You're doing good, Salamo." "Congratulations, Greek." "I see you won, and I hope you continue to win because the moment you lose, you are not longer useful." "And then it's out the chimney." "Listen your foot no good. I know. I see." "I could help you." "One piece of bread." "No." "Last night I dreamed it was a girl and when I woke up this morning, I thought I felt her." "Elena, you can't have a baby here." "What about "Rachel"?" "I always loved "Rachel."" "The SS doctors do experiments on pregnant prisoners." "When they're finished, the baby is dead." "The mother, too." "At the end of the dream you and I were in the theater in Salonika, watching her dance." "In Lublin I was a nurse." "For twice pieces of bread I fix." "No baby." "I don't want to hear it." "One ration?" "Shut up." "One and a half." "I do it good." "Greeks!" "The following numbers step out for a special work detail." "That's me." "If they think they're going to send me up a smokestack they've got a fight on their hands." "Don't worry." "They don't kill the strong ones." "Don't make trouble." "Do as you're told." "Your duties begin here." "Everything of value is shipped back to the Third Reich." "As soon as it's safe you will take out the bodies, and then you will wash the room." "That's all." "Follow me." "You will get plenty to eat, even vodka." "Now you go to the front of the furnaces." "There you will see what you will be doing." "I won't do it." "What was he saying?" "The Greeks refused to work in crematorium." "What?" "The Germans killed them." "What?" "Yeah." "My God." "They refused to work." "So?" "All the men." "Avram Shimon, Nikko." "Why did he do that?" "Why?" "Six seconds left." "These are my people." "I wanna give this to somebody special." "Okay." "Only one moment." "Come in." "So you stole it?" "Sit down." "To the Russians." "My clogs are gone." "Look under the blanket." "I'll die without them." "They're gone." "Her clogs." "Have you seen her clogs?" "Her clogs." "Who took her clogs?" "Her clogs?" "Bread." "Bread." "Tell me who took her clogs!" "Show me your clogs." "Show them to me!" "They're mine!" "They're mine!" "Get out!" "Get out!" "I can't look at her." "It was her or you." "You have a new work assignment:" "the steel mill." "My father, too?" "He stays." "It's a better assignment." "Better food, and you work inside." "It comes from Rauscher." "Jacko." "Poppa?" "Come." "You should lie down." "Come on." "It was a month before we left." "I was at the market." "This woman was staring at me." "I thought she was gonna turn me in." "I was so frightened." "He must have been watching because just as she started to come towards me he came up and kissed me and said we were late for lunch with his parents." "And he took my arm and walked me out to the street." "Then he took me to his apartment and he kissed me." "I'm sorry." "How could I have wanted you to get rid of her?" "I'm so hungry." "Here, take this." "No." "You need it as much as I do." "You need it more." "Take it." "Go on. I'll be out in a minute." "I'm going to the gas." "Tell my mother." "Don't worry." "We'll be all right." "Put this in your mouth." "Think about your wife." "I am alive." "Did you see?" "I think you're all right." "My father's been selected." "Come in." "Can you do anything?" "Someone would have to take his place on the list." "Can you do that?" "It's too late." "Never baby." "She lie." "It wasn't true about having a lover." "I never had one." "Salamo!" "We're finally moving against the bastards." "I don't understand." "The underground." "We have explosives." "We're going to hit a crematorium." "Why are you telling me all this?" "'Cause when we move against them I need your help." "Come." "If I live I'll find you." "I'll be there." "Get up." "Rauscher wants to see you." "Now?" "Now." "There's rumors the Russians are outside of Warsaw." "Auschwitz is breaking up." "Prisoners able to work are being moved to Germany." "The rest are up the chimney, including the Gypsies." "Hurry up." "They know it's over." "He told Rauscher that they're both responsible." "He can't go home and face his wife." "Come here, Salamo." "Jacko." "He wants you to fight." "He can barely stand." "This isn't boxing." "Everything is ready." "The following men report for special duty." "You'll get plenty to eat even vodka." "Now, go to the front of the furnaces." "There you will see what you'll be doing." "Let's go!" "Jew!" "How did you carry the explosives into the crematorium?" "Salamo!" "It's over." "All those I love are gone." "Their faces and what happened here are forever burned into my mind." "How can we do this to our brothers?" "All I have left is my love for Allegra." "I will find her and begin again."