The Last Witness (16 page)

“You were at Auschwitz?”

“Yes.”

“When was that?”

“In 1944 and 1945. We were liberated in January 1945.”

“How old were you?”

“Five.”

“How old are you now?”

“I’m a hundred years old.”

“Well I don’t think we ever had a guest that age before. What’s the secret to living so long?”

“Having a lot of patience and trying your best not to hate. But some people make it hard to do.”

Anderson laughed. “So you remember being at Auschwitz. A place where some say the Nazis murdered a large number of Jews. A death camp. Is that right?”

“They did murder a lot of Jews. Thousands. Hundreds of thousands. Millions. In that one place alone. It was hell.”

Hans Stracht, Austria’s ambassador to the UN, was still on the air. His English was impeccable, but his accent strong. “Now hold on a moment,” he said. “I too would like to congratulate this gentleman on his long life but I fear his memory is failing him a little.”

“Why do you say that?” asked Anderson.

“Because there were no death camps in Austria.”

“That’s a lie!” said Jack.

Mary Lou pressed her hand to her chest.

“Wait a minute,” said Anderson. “Mr. Ambassador, you seem to have elicited quite a reaction here from Mr. Fisher. He claims to be a former resident of a death camp at Auschwitz and he might be the last one. The last living survivor. That’s what he claims.”

“He claims.”

“There was a camp in Austria,” said Jack. “At
Mauthausen
. That was in Austria.”

“Nonsense,” said Stracht.

“I wasn’t there but I know it existed,” said Jack.

“Now listen to me,” said Stracht. “Yes there was a facility at Mauthausen as this gentleman says but it wasn’t a camp. It was a holding facility for enemies of the state. You have to understand. The world was at war and it was a terrible war. As with any war many innocent people lost their lives but the great majority of those deaths took place on the battlefield.”

“That’s not true,” said Jack. “My own parents were murdered by the Nazis and that didn’t
happen on a battlefield. It happened at
Auschwitz
. And before we were there we were in the ghetto in
Lodz
.”

“You were in a ghetto?” asked Anderson.

“A Jewish ghetto. I was born there and when I was a little boy my parents had to hide me.”

“Why did they have to hide you?”

“Because the Germans would’ve killed me.”

“A child?”

“Yes. They killed many children. Millions of them.”

“They killed millions of children? Jewish children?”

“Absolutely.”

“Trish,” broke in Stracht. “Can I say something?”

“Just a minute, Mr. Ambassador. We’ve got some serious accusations coming here from Mr. Fisher and I want to explore this further. You’ll get your chance. Let’s go back to Austria for a minute. Mr. Fisher claims there was indeed a camp in Austria.”

“Mauthausen,”
repeated Jack.

“Mr. Fisher,” said Anderson. “You’re an American citizen, is that right?”

“Yes I am.”

“But I must say it sounds like you speak German awfully well.”

“Yes I speak German. And Polish.”

“Why Polish?”

“Because I was born in Poland. In
Lodz
.”

“If you were born in Poland how come you speak German?”

“Because Germany invaded Poland and made everyone speak German. The city where I was born …
Lodz
… they changed the name to
Litzmannstadt
. Even the street where I was born … Bazarowa Street … got a German name. They changed it to
Basargasse
. Everything had to be in German. It would be like someone taking over America and you have to say
die Stadt Neu York
instead of New York City.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Well I must say your German is very good. Now the Austrian people already spoke German, didn’t they? Isn’t that what they speak over there?” said Anderson.

“The Austrians were Nazis too,” said Jack.

“Trish!” said Stracht. “I’m sorry but I can’t let that go. This man has just insulted my country.”

“I believe he has.”

“What he just said would be like labelling all Americans as Nazis.”

“What are you talking about?” said Jack. “The Austrians were no better than the Germans. In some cases they were even worse. Hitler himself was Austrian.”

The eyes of the Austrian ambassador rolled. “Trish, I’m afraid there are things I must deal with here.”

Anderson said to go ahead.

“First, there were no death camps in Austria. None. If this man says there was he is mistaken. There was only a holding facility for enemies of the state at a time of war. Even the United States did this with its own citizens of German and Japanese ancestry during that same war and so did other Allied countries. If you look at the historical record you will see that in
many Western countries … like the United States … Germans who were citizens of those countries were discriminated against and forcibly confined throughout the entire conflict. The second point I want to make is that Austria was invaded by Nazi Germany.”

“With open arms,” Jack said.

“I must say, Mr. Fisher,” said Stracht, “you have a lot of energy for a man your age.”

“And you have a lot of baloney for a man your age.”

Anderson laughed and even Stracht permitted himself a chuckle. Anderson took over.

“I’m getting hand signals from one of our other guests who’s with the Al Jazeerah news agency. He wants to say something. Mohammad Rahman. Go ahead, Mr. Rahman.”

“Thank you Trish. You have an older man here who doesn’t know what he’s talking about and I excuse him for that but I give him credit for coming on your program considering his advanced age. However, it’s a very dangerous thing when someone can be on this show and make whatever claims he wants. I can just as easily say the State of Israel has been waging genocide against Arab people and Palestinians in particular ever since the State of Israel was created and there is all kinds of proof and witnesses to back me up.”

“Indeed,” said Stracht.

“I am a witness,” said Jack.

“With all respect, Mr. Fisher,” said Stracht, “but during all my years practising law I can tell you that if the sole witness to an alleged crime was a person one hundred years old who may or may not be in full command of his faculties, well I don’t feel terribly confident that their testimony would be admissible in court. Here we have a man who’s a hundred years old who has just besmirched the nation that gave the world Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart and Strauss.”

“And Adolf Hitler,” said Jack.

“Excuse me,” said Anderson. “But a call has just come in from a sitting member of the Austrian Parliament. Mr. Karlheinz Gunther. I’m going to take that call. Hello Mr. Gunther?”

“There are some serious accusations being made here which must be corrected,” said the caller.

“Now you are a member of the Austrian Parliament?” said Anderson.

“I am.”

“And please correct me if I’m wrong but you’re with the Freedom Party. Is that right?”

“Yes.”

“Which currently serves as the Official Opposition in that country?”

“That is correct.”

“Go head, Mr. Gunther.”

“Thank you. Our ambassador to the United Nations is correct when he says there were no death camps in Austria during the Second World War. As he says there were holding facilities for enemies of the state and yes Austria was invaded by Nazi Germany and not with open arms. Germany annexed Austria on its long march across Europe and did in fact invade many countries but talk about a systematic annihilation of the Jewish people at the hands of Nazi Germany is not exactly how it was although some people seem to think so. Yes many Jews did lose their homes and in some cases their possessions as did many people during that war. This happens in all wars. Sometimes to innocent people. But these claims about five or six million people being wiped out according to a plan is not accurate. We really don’t know what happened to all those people or even if that’s how many it was. In my opinion it’s more accurate to call it blasphemy perpetrated by those with an axe to grind.”

“What axe is that?” asked Anderson.

“Well for religious reasons.”

“Can you be more specific?”

“Must I? People of one religion get upset with people of another religion. Your show today began with a conflict taking place between Sunnis and Shi’ites. They’re all Muslims. People of the same religion. And still they kill each other. In a civilized world there is no room for fanaticism and there is also no room for misrepresentation of history.”

“What?” said a startled Jack.

“Mr. Fisher,” said Anderson. “Can you hear me?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know who this gentleman is? Our caller?”

“Not exactly.”

“He is Karlheinz Gunther, a member of the Austrian Parliament, a member of the Freedom Party of Austria which is the Official Opposition in that country. Now isn’t the Freedom Party a right-wing party that’s against immigration, Mr. Gunther?”

“We’re not against immigration. We’re against bringing in people who cause trouble.”

“Would you call someone like Mr. Fisher a troublemaker?”

Anderson’s question was greeted with stony silence and she let it last as long as she could, which was an eternity in a live 3D broadcast. It was broken by the sound of the Austrian politician clearing his throat.

“I think he is a delightful old man who unfortunately doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

“Did you hear that, Mr. Fisher? Did you just hear what Mr. Gunther said?”

“No.”

“He said you don’t know what you’re talking about when you speak of millions of Jews being murdered by the Nazis.”

“I was there. I should know.”

“But you’re still here, Mr. Fisher. You’re still here.”

“Yes I survived but my own parents were killed and so was everyone else in my family. I’m the only survivor from my entire family.”

“Can you tell us how they were killed?”

“Many ways. They were shot or sent to gas chambers or they died of disease or they starved to death.”

“Why would they starve to death? Didn’t they have enough to eat?”

“No. Just a few crumbs. That’s all. They kept us like rats. Men. Women. Children. Old people. But the children and old people were killed first. They weren’t of any use so they killed them right away.”

“But you were a child.”

“Yes.”

“How come you lived?”

“I was lucky.

“You talk about gas chambers.”

“They also used ovens. They stuck people in ovens. Alive.”

“Alive?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve read about that. But did you ever see this with your own eyes?”

“We all knew it happened.”

“Trish, this is very dangerous what’s going on here,” said Stracht, and Al Jazeerah’s Mohammad Rahman agreed.

“Our Al Jazeerah correspondent Mohammad Rahman says this is dangerous,” said Anderson. “Why do you say it’s dangerous?”

“Because what he is saying is not true. You can just as easily say the Second World War never happened or the First World War never happened or the U. S. Civil War never happened. Just whitewash the true historical record with fanciful allegations that can’t be proved or disproved. This sort of thing is what enflames people and spreads hatred and that’s why it’s dangerous.”

“He’s right,” said the Austrian ambassador.

“Hold on. We have another caller and I want to take this,” said Anderson. “It’s a professor from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. I’d like to welcome Esther Dorion who is with the Department of Humanities. Welcome to Talk Back.”

There was the 3D image of a plump woman with a friendly face and loose-fitting clothes. She was seated behind a desk, a tall bookcase at her back.

“I’ve been watching your show. You have a gentleman here who says he’s a living survivor of the death camp at Auschwitz and he may well be. It’s entirely possible. There aren’t many left but there is a huge amount of testimony from survivors which is available to anyone who cares to listen. Just last year an old woman in Switzerland … her name was Rachel Gertberg … may have been murdered precisely because she was a holocaust survivor.”

“Murdered?” said Anderson.

“That’s right. She was almost a hundred years old just like this man and she was a survivor from Treblinka.”

“She was murdered by who?”

“That we don’t know. We don’t even know if she was murdered but her death was very suspicious. I’m sure you are aware that over the last decade … ever since the Great Holocaust of 2029 … there has been a rebirth of right-wing fanaticism all over Europe. There are political movements in many countries that are against immigration of any kind. I would put Austria’s Freedom Party in that category and there are many more. There are also right-wing racist organizations that are dead set against Jews, Muslims, blacks, Orientals and any person of color. This is exactly the sort of thing that led to the creation of Nazi Germany over a hundred years ago and to say that Nazi Germany did not target Jews … as well as other people … is ridiculous. But Jews were the number one target. To say Hitler and Nazi Germany didn’t plan to wipe out European Jewry … that they didn’t destroy six million Jews between 1939 and 1945 … that’s what is blasphemous. It is a fact that cannot be debated and I invite all your guests to come to the Holocaust Museum in Israel so they can learn more about it.”

“There is also a Holocaust Museum in Washington,” said Anderson.

“Yes there is.”

“Hold on Professor Dorion. We’ve got another caller.”

“It is
not
a known historical fact at all.”

“I’d like to introduce Robert Burns from the Institute for Historical Review,” said Anderson. “What exactly is this organization, Mr. Burns?”

“The Institute for Historical Review? It’s a professional association of historians and academics. It’s international in scope but is based in the United States. We examine the veracity of historical claims such as this man’s claim about a Jewish holocaust at the hands of the Nazis.”

“And who belongs to this organization?”