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Yes, it’s one of “those” stories from me. (No apologies). The subject is heavy on the mind of Kansas Citians this summer as the Auschwitz exhibit “Not Long Ago. Not Far Away.” is at our Union Station until September. Not to mention, this weekend is Tisha B’av or the 9th of Av when, historically, many calamities befell the Jews, including the fall of the temple in 70 C.E. and the deportation from the Warsaw Ghetto (July 23, 1942) to Treblinka. It is observed with fasting as one of the saddest days on the Jewish calendar.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100
THE HYENA
“The train took us to Auschwitz.” Marta tried to still her voice echoing in the microphone. “From there they forced us to walk to Bergen-Belsen.”
“How old are you, Marta?”
“Seventeen, sir.”
The lawyer pointed at the group of numbered defendants. “Are any of these familiar?”
A young woman glared at her with ice-blue eyes. Marta shuddered. “Number nine. She tormented starving children with scraps of food and whipped them to death when they cried.”
“I’ve heard Irma Grese laughed on her way to the gallows,” said Marta seventy years later. “Now I can laugh as she rots in hell.”
CLICK FOR MORE ABOUT THE “HYENA OF AUSCHWITZ”
Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple 
Again, one of those times with “like” somehow seems inappropriate, given the nature of your post.
You give voice to those “unspeakable horrors;” helping to preserve important memories and give agency and advocacy to them so that we may never again perpetrate or quietly support such evilness again.
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Dear Lorraine,
I understand about “like”. There ought to be a sad icon on Word Press. Thank you for your affirming comments. They keep me writing these stories so the world won’t forget.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Yes, you help us remember how easily evil can become the “norm.”
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Their stories continue to echo Rochelle. Thank you.
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Thank you, Trish.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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We said “never again” and yet it keeps happening
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Sad but true, Neil.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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What an awful story, the Hyena sounds wretched.
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Dear Shrawley,
It’s amazing and appalling. I’ll accept awful as a compliment. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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It was meant as one! What a wretched situation
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Clearly no remorse, either during her trial or later. It’s difficult to imagine how someone so apparently young could harbour such evil tendencies. Human nature… words fail as they so often do when confronted with these historical accounts.
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Dear Sandra,
I can’t imagine how people can be so evil. From all accounts, she took delight in torturing people. How could she live with herself? And from many stories I read, the female guards were worse than their male counterparts. Thank you for reading and leaving affirming comments.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Those were bad times, that should not be forgotten.
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No, Michael, they shouldn’t be forgotten. And sadly, as the survivors are leaving us, the memories fade.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank goodness for those who survived to name the murderers. But what a tragedy for those who did not survive. Lest we forget. Sore, but a necessary reminder, Rochelle.
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Dear Jenne,
And over 6 million didn’t survive. Unimaginable. Thank you an encouraging comment that will keep me writing these reminders.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Some did evil because they were not strong enough to resist, others were truly evil. I often think that the scariest thing about the Holocaust was that ordinary people were capable of such atrocities and could commit such evil deeds, but then you come across one like her… Chilling to know that such people existed, and, worst yet, still exist. Thanks for the reminder.
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Dear Trent,
It is unfathomable, isn’t it? I wonder what some of these beasts would’ve been had the Holocaust not happened. It does question the theory that man is basically good, doesn’t it? Thank you for your affirming comments.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank you for writing these stories.
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As long as there’s breath in my body, Dee. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Long may you breathe!
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Dear Rochelle,
I truly appreciate you writing these stories. I remember seeing a documentary which featured Irma Grese. She was truly an evil person. You can even see it in the photo above. It’s hard to imagine that such person existed and still exist.
Shalom,
Adele
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Dear Adele,
I can’t imagine what goes on in the mind of someone like Irma. The photo does send chills through me. No remorse on that face, is there? Thank you for your affirming comments.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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An emotional story from a terrible time. Well done, Rochelle.
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Thank you, Mason.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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No apologies needed, Rochelle. You are shining a light into a dark corner we ignore at our peril.
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Thank you for your supportive words, Jen. In the past I’ve been accused of overdoing these stories. It comforts me to know that most appreciate them. Lest we forget.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Even if you weren’t covering something so important, plenty of people have a genre or theme. Some FF writers even weave the same characters or even a single story through their stories. Would they object if all your stories were about space travel, for example? If they don’t want to read it, they are welcome to move on.
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I join your sadness… Today is the one year mark for when my little namesake was taken from this earth along with her entire family. I am spending the day quietly. See ya tomorrow….
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Hugs going out to you, Bear.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle,
Sometimes you have to go there. And this is one of those cases. Evil is all over her face, isn’t it? May she rot in hell, for sure.
Excellent write, my friend.
Shalom and never-forgetting love,
Dale
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Dear Dale,
I just can’t help myself from going there on many occasions. How could I not on Tisha B’Av? Interesting that so many atrocities have befallen the Jews at this time of the year.
Irma was evil personified. Sadly, she wasn’t the only female guard on the menu.
Thank you for your affirming comments as always.
Shalom and lotsa memorable hugs,
Rochelle
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Besides… a train track and bleak buildings in the back? How could you not?
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There is that. 😉
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Auschwitz, of course, is the first thing that came to mind with today’s photo. #9 could afford to laugh on her way to her death. It would be quick and easy compared to that which she inflicted on children under her “care.” One has to wonder at the depths of evil and hatred in the heart of anyone who could mistreat helpless children and then laugh about it.
Sobering, Rochelle. Sobering and incredibly sad, to me, to believe that the Holocaust never happened.
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Dear Linda,
Aren’t the Jews clever? Look how they staged all those horrible photos and then tattooed their own arms. Now that’s ingenuity. And what about the six million who disappeared? How do the deniers explain that away??? Pardon my snark, but those people anger me.
I look forward to a day when the evil snake’s head is crushed. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Me too, Rochelle. And where did they find all those dead bodies to put into massive graves? So much is undeniable, yet they are denied.
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I can’t help but think that instead of the gallows she should have been made to suffer as she made others suffer every day for the rest of her worthless life.
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Dear Keith,
I’m with you. She and all the others should’ve been made to suffer as they made others suffer. Thank you for reading and agreeing.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I went to your link and read about a few of them….numbed in shock again. I also read in your comment that the female guards had a worse reputation than male ones. I suppose when the worst of the worst are in a position like that their absolute worst opens up. I agree, how can they…how? Where does such evil come from? Not to just do the unthinkable that makes one shiver in horror, but actually take it further, to do the unspeakable (though one must) things I read. I don’t know, I just don’t know…words fail me to be honest.
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To add/clarify…one must speak about it.
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Dear Forestbather,
If more did speak out, perhaps the world would be a better place. Fortunately there are good people and those who put their own lives on the line to save others.
We’ve been taught that the female is the gentler sex. Those beasts proved it isn’t always so, Thank you for your affirming comments that spur me on to keep writing these types of stories.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Shudders…
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😦 Thank you, Reena.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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There were some evil people then. Unfortunately there still is genocide – in China to name but one country.
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Yes, Liz. Genocide prevails…in Iran, in North Korea…and places we never hear about.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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There’s no need to apologize for your wonderful, or wonderfully awful, stories of the Holocaust. As you continue to prove, there are so many stories to tell. Though I will admit, as soon as I saw the picture, I knew you going to take us there.
I’m not one for the death penalty, but some people are more monster than person. The world is better off without those people.
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Dear Nobbin,
“Wonderfully awful.” I like that. Thank you for your affirming comments.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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It is ALWAYS the time to not forget what ought to never be forgotten.
The cruelty that absolute power gave those whose hearts were black with hate, is something that was not limited to the Nazis and can well rear its ugly head again. Some are trying hard to let it. Some are aiming to forbid the telling of history as it was. Thank you for keeping the light on history.
xoxo
Na’ama
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Na’ama Y’karah,
As we forget and work to rewrite history it sets the stage to repeat it, doesn’t it? 😦 The evil should be exposed, not buried. As long as I’m breathing, I’m writing. Thank you, my friend, for your supportive and affirming comments.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
XOXO
Na’ama
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Well done. In William Goldman’s Marathon Man, he has a doctor based on Josef Mengele returning to the diamond district in NYC. The doctor is spotted by a camp survivor. It’s chilling because it really happened.
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Dear Josh,
I’ve heard these types of story. No doubt there are more of those than we realize. Chilling to think that they still walk among us without remorse. Thank you re my story.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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My whole body reacted to your telling of this nightmarish actual event. Some people say that evil doesn’t exist. #9 proves them wrong. Rochelle, it must have difficult to write this story and record it. I admire you.
Shalom,
Lisa
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Dear Lisa,
There’s always a little difficulty in writing and recording these types of stories. When gazing at the face of an innocent baby it’s hard to believe it could grow up to be a monster, isn’t it? Thank you for your kind and affirming words.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Rochelle, yes it is. You’re very welcome.
Shalom,
Lisa
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One thing to inflict pain during war time under orders. Quite another thing to enjoy being cruel.
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True story, Tannille. Thank you for reading and commenting.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I still can’t understand the mindset of someone who could do something like that. Which is a good thing for me, I guess.
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Dear Ali,
If you did understand the mindset, I’d be concerned. 😉 Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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A chilling story. Thank you for sharing.
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Thank you, Anne.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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People need to be reminded what depths humanity can sink to, and you perform that service so well.
We do tend to think of the Holocaust as a crime (such a feeble word, in this context) perpetrated by men. But so many women were complicit too.
There is nothing so chilling, as the complete absence of empathy, which makes fathomable, a person’s delight in the pain of others.
Nothing is more chilling, except perhaps the political structure, that allows, or encourages, or enthusiastically incentivizes such atrocities, on its watch.
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Dear Andrea,
So good to see you here. Thank you for your affirming comments to which I will say ‘amen.’
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle,
Historical fiction may be a category or genre, but such a bleak world lurks within the nature of many human hearts. The human condition can be ironically inhumane.
Genocide has long been the calling card of ‘man’s inhumanity to man.’
History and The Holocaust (aka Shoah) tell me to take sides today because this has not really gone away.
Peace, Bill
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Dear Bill,
I fear that as long as there are humans there will be evil. What people are capable of is beyond my comprehension. The fact that we’ve learned nothing from the Shoah makes me shudder. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and affirming comments.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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when i visited auschwitz some years ago, i was stumped. i wondered how it could have happened? and yet there are still many deniers out there. facts don’t matter. they’re programmed to believe only what they wanted to believe.
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Dear Plaridel,
And that’s why Auschwitz is left standing…a reminder…and hopefully, a deterrent. The deniers make me angrier than I can say. Thank you for going there and for your comments.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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This (excellent) story makes me sick.
And Holocaust deniers still mouth off.
Last week, Esther Bejarano died at 96, one voice less to remind us of the truth.
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Dear Gabi,
It’s sad to lose another survivor. Soon there won’t be any left to remind us. Hopefully their descendants will continue to carry the message. And thanks to technology we have many of them on video.
I don’t understand the deniers. If the Jews were clever enough to stage such atrocities they might have been clever enough to avoid it altogether. Nu?
I’m glad the story makes you sick. My stomach turns right along with yours.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Such inhuman conduct, such bestiality, and that too by a woman. Who says inhumanity is not gender neutral! Another very disturbing historical fiction from you, Rochelle, but this time with a disturbing realistic ring to it.
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Dear Neel,
Nope bestiality certainly knows no gender. Thank you for your affirming comments.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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A story of horror, and no redemption. You wrote it very well, Rochelle. Your rendering of the courtroom scene, the way the microphone revealed Marta’s feelings, her terror, are skilfully done. Kudos.
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Dear Penny,
I’m so pleased you picked up on the technical things. (Showing, not telling), Thank you so much for your affirming comments as always.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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You do a vital job, in reminding us of recent history, ‘lest we forget’, as the epitaph says.
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Thank you for your affirming words, Francine. ❤
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Horrific. Such evil exists and is unrepentant. A good piece Rochelle drawing attention and keeping this history in people’s minds. This does happen. It did and it will happen. We must learn from the past.
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Dear Laurie,
We hope to learn from the past, but I fear it’s not happening. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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A chilling story well told.
Shalom,
Ronda
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