I have been saved miraculously. I managed to get back here. Where did I get the strength from? I wanted to come back to Sighet to tell you the story of my death. So that you could prepare yourselves while there was still time. To live? I don’t attach my importance to my life any more. I’m alone. No, I wanted to come back, and to warn you. And see how it is, no one will listen to me.

In front of us flames. In the air that smell of burning flesh. It must have been about midnight. We had arrived—at Birkenau, the reception center for Auschwitz.

Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces...