Less than 90 years ago, 66,000 people were forced to walk 66 miles to their death (“Manya’s Friedman: To Ravensbrüca”).Why?. The people who marched/ walked to death were Jewish, and in simple terms; the death march was only a small sample of the unique and horrible things that happened to them in World War II . In January of 1945, Jewish prisoners were forced on this journey by the Schutzstaffel army (SS). So, what was life like before the Marches? Or what about after? Let’s march into life before this happened.
The Jewish people had many reasons to not want to be prisoners. They were treated worse than cattle and were often killed due to pure negligence. For instance, their housing was horrendous, where 700 people could comfortably fit into one house, around 1,200 people crammed together. With an overwhelming flood of prisoners; they did not have furniture or even cots for many months. Though a sore back was the least of their worries.
It wasn’t until 1944 that indoor bathrooms were provided. Though that most likely wasn’t the biggest issue; for they were only provided with “coffee” (boiled water with grain-based coffee substitute) for breakfast. 300 grams of black bread and soup. Nothing was appetizing; in fact, many new prisoners couldn’t stomach the food, those who did, most definitely did not keep a straight face. The 25 grams of sausage given to them did not make up for much.
Dinner was also far from filling, 300 grams of bread was expected to hold them over to breakfast. It was not a surprise that many died of malnutrition. It simply didn’t match with the work that was required. The Jewish people were very lucky to end with an 11 hour work day. Work usually consisted of making weapons for the SS army. So rubber, bullets, and even tanks were all made by the help of Jews. In turn, it only got worse, much worse.
The start of 1945, in the cold month of January; the Jews faced a challenge most of them could not pass. After coming off an all night shift of work, loaded guns were pressed to their backs as they were forced to march to the rail stations. Without food, water or shelter, overworked and starved they made this journey (“Manya’s Friedman: To Ravensbrüca”.) They were chilled to the bone, only had been given one blanket per prisoner as they marched for many kilometers. (About 66 miles.) This difficult and dangerous trek took about 8 days. Why were they marched in such a hurry?
The SS army was forced to press on the Jews for the Allies were closing in. The Allies consisted of the United States, Great Britain, Russia, and France. While the Axis (Germany, Japan, and Italy) knew they didn’t have a chance against the Allies. In order to ensure there were no living witnesses of the death camps; they needed to kill them all. Though, try as they may, this did not work. In fact, only ten percent of the 66,000 forced to march survived. Soon after everyone was evacuated, the camps were set into flames to cover up evidence. (Holocaust and Human)
You were killed if you: couldn’t keep pace, were elderly, diseased, or if you had given attitude. Nearly two thirds of the Jewish prisoners died from either a gunshot wound, exhaustion or malnutrition. The horrors they faced were matched with the difficulty of watching your fellow friends and family perish beside you; though knowing that pausing for even a short moment would lead you to the same fate.
Furthermore, those who did manage to survive, were saved by the Allies. Of the roughly 6,000 people who walked away with their lives, a handful of them have told their story. “We were being evacuated, nobody knew where to or what. And the thing [was] we didn’t know where we were going to do or what will happen.” Says Manya Friedman from an interview (“Manya’s Friedman: To Ravensbrüca”.)
She spoke about how cold her and her friends were, “They put us in open cars, the type that you transport coal.” - Manya. She goes on to talk about how poorly she was treated. Her friends were shot for asking for water. This was after she had learned that the destination was not Berlin, and was actually Czechoslovakia. Manya tells us that the death marches are now a nickname for the evacuations. Czechoslovakia people were very kind and offered bread, though they were shot at by the Germans. They went back and forth between the rails until they finally landed in Ravensbrück in the middle of the night.
In the end, World War I is a very dark time in our fairly recent past. Many Jewish citizens were imprisoned and sent to work. Those who did not work were put to death in death camps. Apart from the ones who perished in the camps, most passed away during the march. Shown by their stories, the few survivors give us a brief look into the past. Truly, a blood curdling tale to read, much less to live through. This does leave a question to ponder upon; if you were to be one of the Jews that were evacuated, do you believe you would be in the 10% who survived? Why?
Work Cited.
1 Friedman, Manya. ”Death March to Ravensbrück.” https://www.ushmm.org/remember/holocaust-survivors/first-person-conversations-with-survivors/first-person/manya-friedman-death-march-to-ravensbruck. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
2 Steele, Philip. The Holocaust: The Origins, Events And Remarkable Tales Of Survival. Dongguan, China: Scholastic, 2016. Print.
3 The Death Marches, “Holocaust and Human Behavior” https://www.facinghistory.org/holocaust-and-human-behavior/chapter-9/death-marches. Facing History And Ourselves Copyright 2021.
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