The Redhead of Auschwitz. A True Story

by Nechama Birnbaum

“The whole purpose of this world really is for the next world, you know. This world is the corridor, before the palace. We are supposed to prepare ourselves in the corridor, so we can enjoy the palace. It is what our sages taught us. The next world is for eternity; this world is so fleeting.”

‘We can know that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom.’

“I don’t want the pillow. Do you know why our Temple was destroyed? We destroyed it by destroying ourselves. We are all one, but we didn’t know that, and we ripped each other apart and by doing so we ripped ourselves apart. We may seem different, but I am you and you are me and we are all part of each other. We are all part of God, living within Him. We have to know that!”

“All destruction comes from thinking about others as different than you. To be cruel to someone, you cannot think of them as yourself. So, we make them a stranger in our eyes. As if we don’t all have the same blood in our veins, as if we don’t breathe the same air. No one can be cruel unless they really view someone as different but that rips the world apart. We cannot be different. We are all part of the same God. We are never alone.”