Time Surfing: Experience History Firsthand.
Historical Backdrop
On April 11, 1945, nearly 21,000 prisoners remained at Buchenwald after the SS had forced about 28,000 others onto evacuation marches. Our subject is Marek Lewin, a Polish Jewish prisoner and eyewitness accounts. Marek is twenty-seven, starved but mobile, and works as a barracks clerk who knows German.
April 11, 1945, 5:35 a.m. — Prisoner barracks, main camp, Buchenwald, Ettersberg, Germany
You wake before the lamps come on. Three men share the plank beside you, their knees and shoulders fitted together for warmth. The barracks smells of wet wool, infected skin, smoke, and the waste bucket near the door. Artillery mutters beyond the forest. Nobody calls it liberation. Yesterday, thousands were driven through the gate, and every man expects another evacuation. You sit slowly, waiting for the dizziness to pass, and touch the tin cup tied to your belt. It is still there. So are you.
April 11, 1945, 7:25 a.m. — Between the barracks and the camp kitchen, Buchenwald
You carry a pail that is almost empty. Men stand in loose lines instead of the old rigid ranks. Some guards remain in the towers, but others have vanished. A prisoner at the kitchen gives you a ladle of warm gray liquid. You drink too fast, stop, and force yourself to take smaller swallows. Rumor moves through the line: American tanks are west of the camp. Another man says the SS will kill everyone before they leave. Both stories sound possible.
April 11, 1945, 9:45 a.m. — Edge of the roll-call square, Buchenwald
You cross the cinder ground carrying a bundle of rags to the infirmary. The square lies strangely open. Its stone markers still divide the ground where men have stood for hours in rain and snow. The gate building rises uphill behind you. Guards move quickly along the outer road, carrying packs and ammunition boxes. A truck starts beyond the wall. Nobody shouts at you to hurry. That silence feels more dangerous than shouting.
April 11, 1945, 10:00 a.m. — Prisoner infirmary entrance, Buchenwald
The alarm siren begins as you reach the infirmary. Loudspeakers crackle across the camp. The order is for all SS personnel to leave at once. Prisoners freeze where they stand. A guard runs along the fence with his rifle held across his chest. Another abandons a tower and descends the ladder. You press against the wall, rags under one arm, and watch the emptying tower. You have imagined this sight for years. You still expect the machine gun to turn toward you.
April 11, 1945, 10:35 a.m. — Passage behind the prisoner barracks, Buchenwald
