THE SELECTION BY DR. MENGELE
I remained in Buirkenau until the end of 1944 (around November or December). The third and last group that were intended to be sent to the Buissing factory. two groups were aready sent in the meantime.
I stayed in Auschwitz because I was in the third group that had not yet been sent. In Auschwitz Birkenau, they made selections as usual. The crematoria worked 24 hours a day, it was necessary to provide new victims' every day.
Before each selection, and in particular before those done by Dr. Mengele, the area was prepared to prevent any possibility of rebellion, resistance from victims undergoing the selection. First a special unit of the SS soldiers arrived with a whip, a long stick, about 3 meters in length. They immediately created a deliberate panic.
We were given an order to strip off all our clothes to get by in fives. When everyone was naked and we stood in high fives, they ordered us to do frog jumps and also explained what they meant. We had to put both hands on the back of the head. Crouch to rip and then jump with both feet, forward. That way, all the people of the barracks, about 650 people, are destined for shipment in two groups, for hard labor, to the utissing company. So They ran us through the entire area of the order that was adjacent to our shack and also to pass the field that was across the path, adjacent to the adjacent shack. I thought that our jumping area was the size of a football field.
There were people who could not stand it. Those who fell were beaten by the long whip-stick of the SS soldiers. Those who passed the frog jumps were placed in the top five again. We were all naked. A few minutes later, Dr. Mengele appeared and he personally began to perform the selection.
We stood about 650 people. He stood at a not great distance, near the first row and surveyed the five people standing behind the first. He didn't talk. He used to point a finger at a person. The man had to get out of line and join the dropouts. When he finished with the row of fives, moved towards the next five.
This went on for quite a long time until Dr. Mengele arrived at the row where I was standing. In the row of fives where I was standing, I was the fourth in the row. As usual, he pointed with a finger.
I thought he meant me. "Do You Mean Me"??. I asked him in fluent German. "Bleib Stehen du Hund" He answered me. "Stand Still, you dog"- and pointed at a person who was standing behind me.
In this selection, over 100 Jews who came from the Lodz ghetto were eliminated. This group was supposed to go to the factories in Buissing for forced labor.