ROMAN KENT
Roman Kent, born in Łódź in 1925. In 1939 he was imprisoned in the ghetto, then Auschwitz, Gross-Rosen and Flossenbürg. In 1946, on one of these children’s quotas, he was accepted with his brother Leon to the United States, where they both lived in a difficult situation. It was hard to explain who they were and where they came from. He described this in his memoirs. He also wrote a very moving book for children, about his dog, "Lala in the Ghetto".
"We are sometimes ascribed a special honor. However, there is nothing honorable in our camp experience - it is an experience that should never have occurred. When I first returned to Auschwitz, I was very quiet, I did not want to talk, I wanted to be alone. I passed through various parts of Auschwitz - from the railway ramps, where the Germans welcomed us, and tried to relive the events again.
"We were locked up with the family in a freight wagon for three days without food. The smell there was horrible. Many children and adults did not survive the journey. I remember that when the doors opened we were blinded by the sun. And then we heard, "Alle Raus! Schnell!" This command was expected because we very much wanted to leave the wagons but did not know what awaited us. It reminded me of when I came back here for the first time. I wanted to recall that scene, to see it with my own eyes after all these years.
"Today, Auschwitz is no longer just a word - it is an expression of evil, the greatest evil that could have befallen mankind at that time. I hope it never happens again. Auschwitz in the near future may become a small footnote in history and for me it would be a great tragedy. We cannot forget about it."