Diary Entry: Lecture 1

On the 11th of September we had our first lecture. The lecturer was a survivor of the Holocaust. His name was Zoltan Collis. The lecture was an hour long and everything he said was interesting. I believe it was a great way of understanding the true hardship that the Jewish people went through. It was also alot more interesting than a history book!! It was clear he found it hard to share his experiences.He told it very well. I could tell that he had done this alot before. We watched a gruesome video of how the Jewish people were treated and how the bodies were disposed of. This lecture was my first proper lecture and i was very impressed and intrigued to learn about Zoltan Collis. There are 3 Irish survivor of the Holocaust. 12 million people were killed in concentration camps. Zoltan lived in Eastern Slovakia He had 4 children. His father was Jewish. A Nazi officer came to his house and with a piece of paper saying his mother and fathers marriage was a mistake as his father was Jewish. It said the family could go free and live there lives and there Zoltans father would be taken away. Zoltan's mother refused to sign it. His family came together and had a family meeting. They decided to send Zoltan's father into hiding for the year 1944/1945. He ran out of food and clean clothes and went to a bar. He was spotted and reported. The whole family was taken away They were put on a 36 hour train journey to a concentration camp. They went 18 hours without a stop on the train. Many old people died because of the lack of space. After 18 hours they got a break The Nazis shot 3 women for no reason. They got back on the train This was the last time Zoltan saw his father. There were 12 extermination camps and 300 permanent camps. They were told that they were going for a shower. Up to 500 people were crammed into a small room with a small opening at the top of the roof. The Germans poured in poison and within 10 minutes they were all dead. Zoltan was moved to a camp near Hamburg. The SS men were arrogant and cold blooded. 1.1 million were murderd in Auschwitz 6 million Jewish people and 6 million criminals,homosexuals,blacks,trade unionists and communists were killed.