“..One day ..we saw 3 gallows ..3 black ravens ..erected on ..Applepaltz. Roll call. ..SS surrounding us ..machine guns aimed at us ..usual ritual. 3 prisoners in chains ..among them ..little pipel ..sad eyed angel. ..SS seem more preoccupied ..more worried than usual. To hang a child in front of 1,000’s of onlookers was not a small matter. ..head of ..camp read ..verdict. All eyes were on ..child. He was pale ..almost calm ..but he was biting his lips as he stood in ..shadow of ..gallows. This time ..Lagerkapo refused to act as an executioner. 3 SS took his place. ..3 condemned prisoners together stepped onto ..chairs. In unison ..nooses were placed around their necks. Long live liberty. ..Shouted 2 men. ..boy was silent. ..Where is merciful God ..where is He ..someone behind me was asking. At ..signal ..3 chairs were tipped over. Total silence in ..camp. On ..horizon ..sun was setting. Caps off. Screamed ..Lageralteste. His voice quivered. As for ..rest of us ..we were weeping. Cover your heads. Then came ..march past ..victims. ..2 men were no longer alive. Their tongues were hanging out ..swollen ..bluish. ..third rope was still moving ..Child ..too light ..was still breathing. And so he remained for more than half an hour ..lingering between life and death ..writhing before our eyes. And we were forced to look at him at close range. He was still alive when I passed him. His tongue was still red ..his eyes not yet extinguished. Behind me ..I heard ..same man asking ..For God’s sake ..where is God. ..from within me ..I heard a voice answer ..Where is he. This is where ..hanging here from this gallows.” Elie Wiesel.

January 11th. 1923 French and Belgian troops occupy Ruhr.

January 11th. 1941 Hans Frank gains a stay of Himmler’s deportation plans.

January 11th. 1942 The Sunday Times is horrified by actions against 700 Jews at Mauthausen.

January 11th. 1945 Russians are at Warsaw.

“..I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps ..oppressor ..never ..victim. Silence encourages ..tormentor ..never ..tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered ..when human dignity is in jeopardy ..national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men or women are persecuted because of their race ..religion ..or political views ..that place must at that moment become ..center of ..Universe. Of course ..since I am a Jew profoundly rooted in my peoples’ memory and tradition ..my first response is to Jewish fears ..Jewish needs ..Jewish crises. For I belong to a traumatized generation ..one that experienced ..abandonment and solitude of our people. It would be unnatural for me not to make Jewish priorities my own ..Israel ..Soviet Jewry ..Jews in Arab lands.” Elie Wiesel.