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  Courage ~ Love ~ Faith

  Smashwords Edition.

  Jacob's Courage chronicles the dazzling beauty of passionate love and enduring bravery in a lurid world where the innocent are brutally murdered. In 1939, seventeen-year-old Austrians Jacob Silverman and Rachael Goldberg are bright, talented, and deeply in love. Because they are Charles S. WeinblattJews, their families lose everything; their jobs, possessions and money, contact with loved ones, and finally their liberty.

  Follow them into a decrepit ghetto, from there to a prison camp where disease and starvation are rampant and finally to the terror of Auschwitz-Birkenau, where they are forced to perform unspeakable acts of horror in order to remain alive. J JACOB'S COURAGE A Holocaust Love Story Weinblatt JACOB'S COURAGE

  Holocaust Literature - Adult Reading ISBN: 978-965-7344-24-8 US $22.95

  Mazo Publishers Jerusalem, Israel www.mazopublishers.com A Novel By Charles S. Weinblatt Jacob's Courage A Novel By Charles S. Weinblatt

  Mazo Publishers Jerusalem, Israel Text Copyright (c) 2007 - Charles S. Weinblatt ISBN 978-965-7344-24-8 Jacob's Courage Published by: Mazo Publishers Chaim Mazo, Publisher

  P.O. Box 36084 Jerusalem 91360 Israel Website: www.mazopublishers.com Email: [email protected] USA Telephone: 1-815-301-3559 Israel Telephone: 054-7294-565 All rights reserved. This work is protected by international copyright. No part of this work may be loaded, stored, manipulated, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information, storage and retrieval system without prior written permission from the publisher. Cover Art by Lauren Weinblatt

  This book is dedicated to my father, Dr. Morris Weinblatt, whose tender love, profound insight, and courageous actions inspire me long after his death.

  This book is also dedicated to the 6,000,000 Jews who perished in the Holocaust. They have been lost, but will never be forgotten.

  About the Author Charles Weinblatt, a retired university administrator, is the author of published works of fiction and non-fiction.

  Much of Weinblatt's maternal extended family perished in the Holocaust. Great grandparents, great aunts and uncles and many cousins disappeared into the void of Nazi annihilation. These included Rabbis, cantors, professors, and musicians. Family members who escaped from Europe now live in Argentina, Kenya, and the United States. The rest were never heard from again.

  Portions of this novel were adapted from the memoirs of the author's mother, Clara Volk Weinblatt, a childhood victim of pogroms against her Russian Jewish village.

  Weinblatt currently lives in Sylvania, Ohio with his wife, Fran. They have two grown children, Brian and Lauren. C

  Table Of Contents

  Chapter 1 ~ The Darkness Arrives

  Chapter 2 ~ Jacob's Nightmare

  Chapter 3 ~ The Nightmare Begins

  Chapter 4 ~ Undying Love

  Chapter 5 ~ Hanna's Dark History

  Chapter 6 ~ The Synagogue Tragedy

  Chapter 7 ~ The Hospital

  Chapter 8 ~ The Final Solution

  Chapter 9 ~ Forced To Leave Home

  Chapter 10 ~ Life In The Ghetto

  Chapter 11 ~ The Winter Of Discontent

  Chapter 12 ~ Deception, The Heart Of The Enemy

  Chapter 13 ~ The Train Ride

  Chapter 14 ~ Witness To A Massacre

  Chapter 15 ~ Theresienstadt, A New Ghetto

  Chapter 16 ~ Avoiding Deportation

  Chapter 17 ~ A Red Cross Visit

  Chapter 18 ~ A Forbidden Wedding

  Chapter 19 ~ Ariel's Deportation

  Chapter 20 ~ Rachael's Terrible Ordeal

  Chapter 21 ~ The Commandant's Rage

  Chapter 22 ~ Rachael's Dilemma

  Chapter 23 ~ A Plan For Escape

  Chapter 24 ~ The Commandant's End

  Chapter 25 ~ A Plan For Freedom

  Chapter 26 ~ The Forest's Protection

  Chapter 27 ~ Life With The Partisans

  Chapter 28 ~ The First Mission

  Chapter 29 ~ Recaptured

  Chapter 30 ~ Reunited

  Chapter 31 ~ The Partisans Without Jacob

  Chapter 32 ~ Interrogation

  Chapter 33 ~ Partisan Politics

  Chapter 34 ~ One Last Wish Before I Die

  Chapter 35 ~ The Gestapo

  Chapter 36 ~ From Death's Doorway To Redemption

  Chapter 37 ~ Rachael's Delivery Dilemma

  Chapter 38 ~ The Checkpoint

  Chapter 39 ~ A Train To Poland

  Chapter 40 ~ Auschwitz

  Chapter 41 ~ Life In Auschwitz

  Chapter 42 ~ Birth And Death

  Chapter 43 ~ Surviving Auschwitz

  Chapter 44 ~ Josef Mengele

  Chapter 45 ~ The Winds Of Change

  Chapter 46 ~ Rachael And The Partisans

  Chapter 47 ~ The Music Of Auschwitz

  Chapter 48 ~ The Violin

  Chapter 49 ~ The Rise Of Jacob's Courage

  Chapter 50 ~ Jacob's Plan

  Chapter 51 ~ Escape From Auschwitz

  Chapter 52 ~ Reunion

  Chapter 53 ~ Fighting Back

  Chapter 54 ~ The Frantic Pace Of Mass Killing

  Chapter 55 ~ Rachael's Escape

  Chapter 56 ~ Sonderkommando

  Chapter 57 ~ Leaving Auschwitz

  Chapter 58 ~ Rachael's Struggle To Survive

  Chapter 59 ~ The Death March

  Chapter 60 ~ The Battle

  Chapter 61 ~ Night Of The Cannons

  Chapter 62 ~ The Sniper

  Chapter 63 ~ The Battle's Conclusion

  Chapter 64 ~ The Last Day

  Chapter 65 ~ Jacob's End

  Chapter 66 ~ Guilt

  Chapter 67 ~ Resettlement

  Jacob's Courage Chapter 1 The Darkness Arrives

  The dreary, dark winter of 1939-1940 began early in the Austrian Alps. Thick, gray snow clouds rushed through the dark forest, on their way to the frosty cliffs above. It was as though nature was preparing itself for the onslaught of terror soon to follow - freezing itself from the approaching evil. Here in the cold, dark Austrian mountains near Salzburg, the world slept peacefully. Yet, horror was on the horizon.

  The Nazis arrived less than a year ago. They took control over Austria without a single shot and offered everyone a better future. That is, they promised a better future for everyone except Jews, and certain other "undesirables." Had the Silverman family known what was about to happen, they would have run away as fast as their legs could carry them. But, no one could imagine the terror that awaited them. It was beyond reason and sanity. They were about to become engulfed by the darkest episode in the history of mankind.

  Underneath beautiful Alpine peaks, Salzburg was a parade of Baroque motifs. Located between the mountains Kapuzinerberg and Mönchsberg, and the River Salzach, Salzburg had everything one might expect of an independent, modern Austrian city of the 1930s - small alleys, colorful homes, towering castles and palaces, gardens, churches and monasteries. Music helped to shape the culture of Salzburg, which was the birthplace of Mozart. It was heard everywhere: in churches, castles, palaces, and, of course, concert halls. The bustling "old town" section stretched along the banks of the river and was crowded with shops of all varieties. Towering above all this was the sturdy Hohensalzburg fortress. Salzburg has largely been known for its serene artistic and educational endeavors. But in 1939, peaceful Salzburg was on the brink of war.

  For the few Jewish citizens of the city, 1939 marked the beginning of the end. Despite countless warning signs and numerous begging relatives, the Silverman family stayed in Europe when they should have left. Dr. Moshe Silverman silently observed these warning signs, allowing too much time to pass before making a decisio
n. He had a chance to leave Europe, as did many of his friends and acquaintances. He could have saved his wife Hanna and their precious child, Jacob. But, like so many others, he assumed that the Nazi threat was only temporary. It would soon pass, he thought. This decision would haunt Moshe Silverman until his death.

  Jacob and his parents lived in a modest apartment that was very well furnished. In most respects, they were a typical upper middle-class Austrian family. Moshe was a well-respected physician. His wife, Hanna, volunteered with the community food bank, the public school and the one small synagogue. Their son, Jacob, was a typical bright teenager. In his last year of secondary school, Jacob was planning for a career in medicine, like his father. He was deeply in love with beautiful Rachael Goldberg, whose father was also a physician in Salzburg. They attended the same school, sometimes in the same classes. Like their friends, they were busy planning for their careers - their university life. Like all adolescents, they explored their passions, desires and dreams. And, despite Nazi party threats against Jews living in Austria, Jacob and Rachael assumed that these wonderful days would continue, if not blossom into something even more magnificent. Despite the warning signs, life was superb.

  Of course, Jacob and Rachael were not oblivious to the threats made upon Jews by Nazis. They heard propaganda speeches by Hitler and other Nazi leaders that blamed all of the problems of the world on Jews. They understood that Hitler had a vision for "Aryan" people, who were "destined to rule the world." They even understood that Hitler needed to create a scapegoat that would help drive the people to achieve his concept of world domination.

  Hitler used propaganda to showcase Jewish wealth against the backdrop of Christian Germans who had suffered so badly after World War I. Jacob understood how this propaganda created an angry backlash against Jews. He knew that Jews had been ostracized and hated throughout Europe for generations. Many European citizens were eager to follow the Nazi lead against Jews. The rest would not consider fighting Nazi policy dictates. With no army to defend them against attack, European Jews represented the perfect scapegoat for Hitler's plans to succeed. In this effort, he was entirely successful. But Jacob had no idea how far the government would go to eliminate Jews.

  Government policy soon forbade Jews from owning property. By 1938, Jewish doctors could no longer practice medicine in German hospitals. They could only serve other Jews. Jewish lawyers were forbidden from practicing law. Jewish professors were fired from university positions. Then, through forced relocation, Jews were moved into very small undesirable parts of each city. These "ghettos" were filthy, had no running water, no electricity and no city services. Dozens of Jews were forced to live in the space formerly occupied by one family. The severely cramped spaces were unbearable. Professionals and successful artisans or business owners were astonished at such repulsive living conditions. Jews were forced to wear a yellow Star of David on their clothing and were soon barred from cafes, cinema, theaters and other public places. They could shop only after the stores had served gentiles, when the aisles were empty. Jews could no longer ride buses and were forced to stand in the back of trains. German soldiers around the ghetto maintained a strict curfew. Through openly hostile propaganda, Jews became an enemy of the government and the people.

  Jacob had heard his father rationalize for years that Jew-hating would be less severe in Austria than it was in Germany. He said that the Austrian government would never allow Jews to be persecuted in such a manner. Then, in 1938, with less than a whimper, Austrian leaders allowed the German army to assume governmental and logistical control, in what was called the Auschluss. The Jew hating propaganda that dominated German social consciousness spread like wildfire throughout Austria. Jacob was surprised at how quickly and easily it happened. Even so-called cultured Austrians now regarded Jews with suspicion. Myths and negative stereotypes about Jews rose to the surface. 12 The Darkness Arrives

  In the autumn of 1939, the new German war in Poland was still a distant rumble, almost unheard in Austria. Families from all of Europe continued to vacation in Vienna, Innsbruck, Salzburg and Linz - as they had done for generations. The sights and sounds of the front were a remote drumbeat, or a two minute newsreel at the cinema. Nazis brought economic reforms leading to a welcome recovery that Austrians enjoyed. For many Austrians, life was better than it had been for more than a decade.

  There were only a few hundred Jews in Salzburg at this time and they tended to remain within their own tight-knit group and neighborhood. The Nazi propaganda machine was always at work against Jews. In every media format, ranting government leaders projected the "dangerous Jewish menace," from the Nazi perspective. In Salzburg, it resulted in the occasional public beating of Jews, the desecration of the only synagogue and the destruction of Jewish-owned storefronts. But, in 1939, most Austrians felt at peace. Many believed that their lives were improving under the Nazi government. At best, they were indifferent to the plight of their Jewish neighbors. At worst, they plotted against them.

  By the spring of 1939, apathy turned into public hatred, leading to violence. By the fall of 1938, Jacob and his Jewish friends had become public targets of hatred and violence. Most of the Christian children of Salzburg went to a new summer camp run by Nazi propagandists. They returned to their homes changed. Suddenly, these Brown-shirted youths began to routinely berate and beat Jewish children on the city streets. Synagogues throughout Germany and Austria were now burned, rather than defaced. Jewish-owned stores were vandalized and torched more frequently. It seemed that almost overnight the children of Austria had learned how to hate Jews. They did so at home, in school and through government-sponsored organizations and clubs. The public had easily become accustomed to it. Hardly a protest was heard. Deprived of work, homes, bank accounts and permission to travel, the Jews of Salzburg were on a fast track to destruction.

  Jacob, who rarely heard his parents argue, suddenly found them in heated discussions about leaving Austria. On almost a daily basis, his mother asked if Moshe had found immigration visas for a safe country. Jacob's father would shake his head and change the topic of discussion. At first, like his father, Jacob dismissed the threat. He knew that his mother was high-strung. She had a propensity for anxiety and depression. But, many of his friends had already left with their parents. The Jewish population of Salzburg was indeed shrinking. And, well-known Jews, such as Albert Einstein, had made no secret of why they abandoned Europe. Were those families jumping the gun? Did they really need to leave? Would not the current danger pass one day soon? Moshe seemed to think that the Nazis would eventually give up on Jew-hating. But, Jacob had become increasingly troubled about gaining admittance to a university of his choice.

  By late 1939, Jews who attempted to flee found freedom elusive. Almost no other country would take them in. Immigration laws in most free countries at the time involved the use of quotas. Many Jews who escaped before the beginning of the Nazi takeover had obtained foreign visas. However, once a country's quota for Jews had been filled, the doors were closed. Many Jews who thought that they had managed to escape the iron fist of Nazi control were eventually sent back to Europe, to endure persecution and death in concentration camps. Eventually, the majority of Europe's Jewish population became stranded in their home countries. Then, Nazis systematically deported Jews to internment and death camps. Sadly, Western countries refused to alter immigration quotas for Jews, even when evidence of German death camps had become well-known. Millions of innocent men, women and children were doomed to an untimely death at the hands of Nazis. Why the Allies didn't save them, Jacob would never know.

  For the Jews of Salzburg, the world had radically changed. Only a fortunate few had managed to escape to other countries. Those who remained were about to become victims of the most despicable crime in the history of mankind. They were swept into the horrors of the Holocaust.

  Chapter 2 Jacob's Nightmare

  In the third floor bedroom of a tightly grouped set of gray apartment buildings, seventeen year-
old Jacob Silverman tossed and turned in his bed. A fierce winter storm had dumped new snow on the city overnight. In the forest below, the wind slowly began to abate. Evergreen trees were bending with the stress of the ice and snow. They began to creak and moan with each gust of wind. Smoke drifted up from chimneys in the city above, surrounded by a sentinel of towering gray mountains. The heavy snow drifted into huge rounded white cliffs, hanging across rooftops and piling against the sides of buildings. Slowly, one-by-one, pale yellow lights emerged inside homes. Salzburg was awakening. Early risers pushed the snow from streets and walkways with brooms and shovels. Engulfing this scene was complete and breathtaking silence. Not even a birdcall could be heard. In Salzburg, the world was asleep and at peace in its windswept isolation. The forest below the mountains was a soft and quiet world.

  Sweating profusely, Jacob's sleep was disturbed by a horrible vision. He was oblivious to the scratching of a tree branch against his window. Under closed lids, his eyes darted quickly in every direction. Young Jacob was experiencing the worst nightmare of his life.

  In this horrific nightmare, Jacob was older by several years. He was also extremely thin. More than that, he was emaciated. Jacob wore a strange costume. It looked like gray pajamas with vertical red stripes. A Star of David was emblazoned upon the front. On his head was a cap of the same coarse fabric. He looked around the huge red brick walled room, filled with acrid smoke and ash. It was some sort of furnace room. The heat was unbearable. And there was a disgusting odor. It smelled like burned meat - but not exactly. The stench was sickly-sweet.

  Jacob stood in front of an enormous blazing oven. Mechanical trays were built in front of openings into the fire. Men dressed like Jacob were continuously pushing similar large objects into the fire on the mechanical trays. Other men scrambled to bring more of the large things into the room for the fire. The fire itself was so large and intense that it produced a deep thundering sound. It shook the foundations of the room and the entire building. Jacob thought that it sounded like a speeding locomotive. He was sweating profusely and lightheaded. He was also overwhelmed with exhaustion and his muscles ached fiercely. But how could he feel such pain when it was only a dream? Thoughts were spinning around in his confused mind. This dream is more real than life itself. Ash filled the room everywhere. He choked on it. The ash was in his nose, his throat and upon his clothes. In his eyes, it reduced his visual acuity. The ubiquitous ash floated constantly through the air, like tiny white snowflakes. He soon found it difficult to breathe.