“Toward midday, the Jews were still on the square. They have been made to advance to the middle of the concrete slab, and just this move of a few yards has knocked out a good number of them. The dead, who had been lined up at the start, now form several piles. Among the living, few are able to remain upright without moving. Most of them stagger about as if drunk. From time to time, one falls and moves slightly, just a few jerks, and moves no more. Huge gaps appear in their ranks, and their moaning becomes weaker.
By afternoon, there seem to be more dead than alive. The sun, which is still strong, strengthens the smell of
rotting bodies. Not a single man is able to continue standing without help. Wavering and pitching about, the skeletal Jews shoulder together in twos and threes. From their position at the gate, the SS look on, chuckling with delight …”
–Yves Béon, Planet Dora
“I have little inclination to seek for explanations, experience a strong inclination to surrender to my affects, and feel strengthened in my whole unscientific position that when all is said, on the average, all things considered, human beings are miserable rabble.”
–Sigmund Freud, in a letter to Arnold Zweig: 2 December 1927