ISSUE 1

LEGACIES OF OUR RUINS

JUNE 1945

WOR LD WAR II-PHOTOS WE MUST REMEMBER

1

A DOWNFALL WITHOUT PROMISING RISE

By Aarthi S

If the labour we did

had not killed us, the
gas chamber or
shooting wall would

After years of battle, the Jewish prisoners of all the

concentration camps had finally been released. One of the
surviving fortunate prisoners was Ayelet Amos.

Born in Wiesbaden, Germany, Ayelet attended school

there until the restrictive Anti-Jews legislative made it

impossible. She had spent her teenage life under the
clutch of the evil Nazis. By the end of 1943, there were
only 3 other Jewish families in her town. The others had
been deported to various concentration camps across
Europe.

I was 17 when it was our turn to be tortured, she

However, their hopes were dashed the moment they

recalled. I was terrified when we entered Theresienstadt. I

received news that her father and uncle had committed

knew concentration camps meant death, but we did not

suicide, unwilling to face the hardships.

telegram she sobbed. Her mother now, though alive, is

brother and father were sent to the Auschwitz camp, and

very sickly.

repeating itself. I want to write about every single

hard work, and hunger. The children instead of playing

second of the desperation faced by the Jews, she

with toys played with live rats. Every day, they would only

vowed.

barely enough to satiate their hunger, given that they

worked the whole day, she cried.
Also, no privacy was given between each others in the
camp.

3) Three American soldiers lie half-buried in the sand at Buna Beach on New Guinea in Feburary 1943 during WWII

I want to keep the history alive, to prevent it from

My life in the camp was filled with brutality, desperation,

be given a limited amount of food rations which would be

2) During 1940's Battle of Britain, Luftwaffe bombers tried to destroy British air power ahead of a planned invasion of
the UK. When that failed, Hitler resorted to terror attacks on civilians, including the full-scale bombing of London

We waited weeks for them, until we received the

Though her family had been deported together, her elder

never heard from again.

1) Marines take cover on an Iwo Jima hillside amid the burned-out remains of banyan jungle, as a Japanese bunker is
obliterated in March 1945.

they returned to their once-homes in the hope that just

like them, their family members would have survived.

know how we would die.

After the war, she and her mom, were released, and

In the 2 years time, she had contracted many

The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, statesponsored persecution and murder of approximately six
million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.
Many Jews are greatly relieved after its glorious end.

diseases. They had no medications or doctors in the camp.

4) Hitler salutes the German troops of soldiers during a rally

I have no explanations on how I had survived all these

hardships. I guess it was the thought deep in my heart that

5) Aftermath of the clash over control of the Pacific Island by the American and Japanese troops

one day we would be free, united with our families, she

said, tears filling her eyes.

6) British soldiers preparing themselves against the opposing army

4

The Beds in the concentration

camp. Little privacy was granted
to the prisoners. All shared the
same toilets and bedrooms.

GIVE ME BACK MY BRUNO!

KURT KOTLER- A FRIEND OR FOE?

Cries his mother, Elsa

By Tris Everdeen

By: Amy Martin

The son

of

an

important official in

the

Nazi

commandant, had gone missing recently. Bruno, aged 9,

was the couples second child, with a daughter named

He was one of the Nazi soldiers stationed at

Bruno, aged 9

Auschwitz. He had blonde hair, an unnatural shade of

The son of Nazi

Commandant

yellow.

Soldiers had gone around houses in the vicinity, and

have searched the local towns. However he was
nowhere to be found.

arrogant

Nazi

officer

with

officials wife, Elsa, Lieutenant Kurt Kotler is hated

allow Ralf, the official, an important one in Hitlers

army to take the role of a commandant. He was not
long before promoted to be a Nazi Commandant, who
of

by many-dead or alive.
During the long search, no traces of him were found
except for a pile of clothes and boots, outside the
fence which kept thousands of Jews were kept

The family had moved from Berlin to Auschwitz to

charge

an

suspected of having an affair with an important

He was last seen a week before the fall of the Nazis.

in

was

aspirations of greatness. Known to be cruel and

Gretel their first.

was

He

Lieutenant Kurt
Kotler in his neatly
pressed uniform

the

infamous

Auschwitz

Concentration Camp where countless of Jews have

lost their loved ones. Since he could not carry out his
work from Berlin, the whole family had moved house.
From the information gathered, we had put together
bits and pieces and formed a possible reason for the
childs disappearance.
Brunos mother was the first to notice Bruno to be
missing. When she had called him to come to his
dinner, he had not responded. Since then, the search
for the missing child had begun.

prisoners, were presumed to be Brunos, near the fence

Despite being only nineteen years old, Kurt Kotler had

been promoted to be the head soldier at Auschwitz
due to the dedication and sincerity he had shown in

of the Auschwitz camp.

his work.

Also, a tiny hole was noted on the fence. Brunos

Relishing any opportunities to demean and abuse the

father has come to the conclusion that his son must

have squeezed through it into the other world, where
Jews are no more than an animal as said by the
commandant, and had been killed for the sins the poor
boys father had committed.

commandant, it was found that his father was against

slaves there, he was notorious to be a show-off.

This man had also killed an innocent slave in the

outside the fence hugging her sons clothes and crying her
heart out, scolding herself for all the sins she and their family
had committed.

1938 had been the dreadful year of Kristallnacht, the

because he had accidentally spilled some wine. As told

families and businesses. Also, we have doubts that he

by a Jew spy, Kotler had acted as such only to bring

was actually a Jew, who was trying to save his head.

His hair, which almost looks dyed, is perhaps the dark-

When Kotler was having dinner with the officials, the

topic about his father had risen. His father had
betrayed

the

Nazis

and

escaped

Germany

to

brown of Jews, which suggests that he was not the

Aryan figure he has pretended to be.
After finding that Lieutenant Kotler had betrayed the
Nazis by not informing his superiors about his fathers

Gretel, the sister, was also distraught to a great extent. I

should have been closer to him. I was never able to show the The commandant became curious and probed on the

disloyalty, the commandant sent Kurt Kotler to the

professes

front line during the attack. Near the surrender of

ignorance for the reason of his fathers abandonment

the Germans, the sadistic Lieutenant Kurt Kotler

of the Fatherland.

perished from this world, which was a relief to many,

full love I had for him. I was too distracted by my own issues topic.

The two of them had now returned to Berlin for a

probably actually a Jew.

night of broken glass, a major attack on Jewish

Switzerland in 1938, as heard by the spy.

she scolded herself.

the idea of Nazis implying that their family was most

headquarters of the Nazis in Auschwitz simply

Brunos mother, Elsa and his sister Gretel were the most away attention from him.
devastated by their missing family member. Elsa was last seen

Subsequent to a more furious demand from the

However,

Lieutenant

Kotler

especially Jews.

change of atmosphere. However, the Nazi commandant,

Ralf is still in Auschwitz.

His death is an Act of God says many. Some says it was

bad luck. But one thing is for sure: he was punished
justly for his evil deeds.

Fence where Brunos clothings were found

2