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Peter Fischl, 15-year-old
inhabitant of the Terezin ghetto. Peter was killed
in Auschwitz in 1944.
"
We got used to standing
in line at 7 o'clock in the morning, at 12 noon and
again at seven o'clock in the evening. We stood in
a long queue with a plate in our hand, into which
they ladled a little warmed-up water with a salty
or a coffee flavour. Or else they gave us a few potatoes.
We got used to sleeping without a bed, to saluting
every uniform, not to walk on the sidewalks and then
again to walk on the sidewalks. We got used to undeserved
slaps, blows and executions. We got accustomed to
seeing people die in their own excrement, to seeing
piled-up coffins full of corpses to seeing the sick
amidst dirt and filth and to seeing the helpless doctors.
We got used to it that from time to time, one thousand
unhappy souls would come here and that, from time
to time, another thousand unhappy souls would go away
"
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