A PHOTO FROM AUSCHWITZ, 1944.

 

A PHOTO FROM AUSCHWITZ, 1944.

If I didn't know where this photo was taken and who took it, namely an SS officer, I would think it was a moment of rest after mass

in the open countryside, where after a pilgrimage people sit down and have a bite to eat before

returning home and taking a photo as a souvenir. As I used to do when I was little with our parish.

In the frame of this photo, there is a child who has found a dandelion in the grass and is now giving it to or showing it to an older child, perhaps a brother.

A few minutes later, ALL THE PEOPLE PORTRAYED HERE WERE SENT TO THE GAS CHAMBERS,

and all that remains of these Hungarian Jews is this photo, boys, girls, men, women, young people, and this small spontaneous gesture, then screams, cries, and SILENCE.