How the magic of kindness helped me survive the Holocaust | Werner Reich

Prevodilac: Dragana Savanovic Lektor: Ivana Korom

In the rather delightful book "The Little Prince,"

U prilično zanimljivoj knjizi „Mali princ“

there is a quotation, which says

postoji citat koji kaže:

"It's only with the heart that one can see rightly.

„Čovek samo srcem dobro vidi.

What is essential is invisible."

Suština se očima ne da sagledati.“

And while the author wrote these words sitting in a comfortable chair,

I dok je autor pisao ove reči sedeći u udobnoj fotelji,

somewhere in the United States,

negde u Sjedinjenim Državama,

I learned this very same lesson

ja sam istu ovu lekciju naučio

miles away in a filthy, dirty barrack

miljama daleko u odvratnoj, prljavoj baraci

in an extermination camp in Poland.

u logoru smrti u Poljskoj.

It isn't the value or the size of a gift that truly matters,

Nije važna vrednost ili veličina poklona,

it is how you hold it in your heart.

već kako ga čuvaš u srcu.

When I was six years old,

Kada sam imao šest godina,

my mother, my father, my sister and myself

moja majka, otac, sestra i ja

left Jew-hating Germany, and we went to Yugoslavia.

napustili smo antisemitističku Nemačku, i otišli smo u Jugoslaviju.

And we were in Yugoslavia for seven happy years,

I ostali smo u Jugoslaviji sedam srećnih godina,

and then Germany invaded Yugoslavia

a onda je Nemačka napala Jugoslaviju

and we suddenly were persecuted again,

i odjednom smo opet bili prognani,

and I had to go into hiding.

i morali da se krijemo.

And I was hiding for roughly two years

Krio sam se otprilike dve godine

with a couple who had worked for the resistance movement.

sa parom koji je radio za pokret otpora.

And I developed films, and I made enlargements.

Razvijao sam filmove, i uveličavao fotografije.

One day, when I was 15 years old,

Jednog dana, kada mi je bilo 15 godina,

I was arrested by the gestapo

uhapsio me je gestapo

and beaten up,

i pretukao,

and, for two months, dragged through various prisons,

i, tokom dva meseca, vukao po raznim zatvorima,

and eventually, I ended up

i na kraju sam završio

in a 150-year-old fortress in Czechoslovakia,

u 150 godina staroj tvrđavi u Čehoslovačkoj,

which the Nazis had converted into a concentration camp.

koju su Nacisti bili pretvorili u koncentracioni logor.

I was there for 10 months.

Tamo sam bio 10 meseci.

I laid railroad tracks,

Postavljao sam železničke šine,

I exterminated vermin,

istrebljivao štetočine,

I made baskets,

pravio korpe,

and after 10 months,

i nakon 10 meseci,

about 2,000 of us were loaded into cattle cars,

oko 2.000 nas je ukrcano na vagone za stoku,

the doors were closed, and we were shipped east.

vrata su zatvorena, i poslati smo istočno.

For three days, we traveled like that,

Tri dana smo putovali tako,

and when we were unloaded,

i kada su nas iskrcali,

we were smelling of urine and of feces,

osećali smo se na urin i izmet,

and we found ourselves in the Auschwitz extermination camp.

i bili smo u koncentracionom logoru Aušvic.

A camp that, by that time,

Logoru, koji je do tada,

had murdered already over one million people

već ubio preko milion ljudi

and sent them through the chimney into the sky.

i poslao ih kroz dimnjake na nebo.

We arrived, we were stripped of all of our properties,

Stigli smo, oduzeli su nam sve lične stvari,

whatever we had,

šta god smo imali,

and were given striped uniforms,

i dali nam prugaste pidžame,

were given a tattoo on our arms,

tetovirali nam ruke,

and we also were given the message

i takođe nam poručili

that we would be there for exactly six months.

da ćemo biti tamo tačno šest meseci.

And after that, we would leave the camp.

I da ćemo, posle toga, napustiti logor.

Through the chimney.

Kroz dimnjak.

We were assigned to different barracks.

Bili smo raspoređeni po barakama.

And the barracks were filled with wooden bunks,

A barake su bile pune drvenih kreveta na sprat,

six people on each level,

po šest ljudi na svakom nivou,

three people sleeping in one direction and three in the other direction,

troje koji su spavali u jednom smeru i troje u drugom smeru,

so whichever way you slept,

i kako god ste spavali,

you always had a pair of feet in your face.

uvek ste imali dva para stopala pod nosom.

The man next to me was an extremely nice gentleman,

Čovek do mene je bio jako fin gospodin,

and he introduced himself as Mr. Herbert Levine.

i predstavio se kao gdin Herbert Levin.

Mr. Levine was kind and polite to me.

Gdin Levin je bio dobar i ljubazan prema meni.

One day, when I came back from a work assignment,

Jednog dana, kada sam se vratio sa radnog zadatka,

I climbed up,

popeo sam se,

I was at the top level of the three-tier bunk,

bio sam na najvišem nivou kreveta od tri sprata,

and there was Mr. Levine with a deck of cards.

i tamo je bio gdin Levin sa špilom karata.

And he was shuffling these cards.

Mešao je te karte.

And I couldn't understand it, you know,

I nisam mogao da shvatim, znate,

having a deck of cards in Auschwitz

imati špil karata u Aušvicu

was like finding a gorilla in your bathroom.

je bilo kao da ste pronašli gorilu u svom kupatilu.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

You know, "What is he doing there?"

Znate: „Šta on to radi?“

And then Mr. Levine turned to me

Onda se gdin Levin okrenuo ka meni

and offered me the deck, and said, "Pick a card."

ponudio mi špil, i rekao: „Izaberi kartu.“

So I picked a card,

Izabrao sam kartu,

and he performed a card trick for me.

a on je izveo trik za mene.

He performed a miracle.

Izveo je čudo.

And I'd never seen a card trick before,

Ja nikada pre nisam video trik sa kartama,

and the man who performed it was sitting right there.

a čovek koji ga je izveo sedeo je baš tamo.

And then Mr. Levine did the unthinkable.

Onda je gdin Levin uradio nezamislivo.

He actually explained the trick to me.

Zapravo mi je objasnio trik.

And the words got burned into my brain.

I reči su mi se urezale u glavu.

And I remembered every single word,

Zapamtio sam svaku reč,

and from that day on,

i od tog dana,

I practiced that trick every day.

vežbao sam trik svakog dana.

Although I didn't have any cards.

Iako uopšte nisam imao karte.

I just kept on practicing.

Samo sam nastavio da vežbam.

About three weeks later,

Oko tri nedelje kasnije,

the entire camp, with the exception of a couple hundred of us,

ceo logor, osim par stotina nas,

were sent to the gas chambers.

je poslat u gasnu komoru.

I was sent to another camp where I worked in the stables,

Ja sam poslat u drugi logor gde sam radio u štalama,

and then, in January 1945,

a onda, u januaru 1945. godine,

when the Russians advanced,

kada su Rusi napredovali,

60,000 of us were sent on a death march.

60.000 nas je poslato u šetnju smrti.

And we walked for three days, on and off,

Hodali smo tri dana, bez prestanka,

and in the middle of the winter,

i u sred zime,

and by the time we arrived at a railroad siding,

i kada smo stigli na raskršće železnice,

out of the 60,000 people,

od 60.000 ljudi,

15,000 had died.

15.000 je bilo umrlo.

And the rest of us were loaded into open railroad cars,

Mi ostali smo ukrcani na otvorene vagone,

and for four days, shipped all the way from Poland down to Austria.

i četiri dana prevoženi skroz od Poljske do Austrije.

And we found ourselves in a death camp,

Stigli smo u logor smrti,

in a concentration camp called Mauthausen,

u koncentracioni logor Mauthauzen,

which again was built like a fortress.

koji je isto bio izgrađen kao tvrđava.

And at that point, the SS abandoned us,

Tada nas je SS napustio,

and there was no food there,

nije bilo hrane,

and there were thousands and thousands of bodies there.

i bilo je hiljade i hiljade tela tamo.

I slept for three days next to a dead man,

Tri dana sam spavao pored mrtvog čoveka,

just to get his ration of a tablespoon of moldy bread.

samo da bih dobio njegovu porciju kašičice buđavog hleba.

And two days before the end of the war, May 5,

Dva dana pre kraja rata, 5. maja,

we were liberated by American forces.

oslobodila nas je američka vojska.

At that time, I was 17 years old,

Tada sam imao 17 godina,

and I weighed 64 pounds.

i 29 kilograma.

And I hitchhiked back to Yugoslavia.

Stopirao sam do Jugoslavije.

And when I came back to Yugoslavia,

A kada sam stigao u Jugoslaviju,

there was communism there,

tamo je bio komunizam,

there was no family there

nisam imao porodicu tamo,

and there were no friends there.

a ni prijatelje.

I stayed there for two years,

Ostao sam tamo dve godine,

and after two years, I managed to escape to England.

i nakon dve godine, uspeo da pobegnem u Englesku.

And when I came to England,

Kada sam stigao u Englesku,

I couldn't speak English,

nisam govorio engleski,

I had no education, I had no skills.

nisam imao obrazovanje, niti veštine.

I started working,

Počeo sam da radim,

and about a year after I arrived in England,

i oko godinu dana nakon dolaska u Englesku,

I bought myself a deck of cards.

kupio sam sebi špil karata.

And for the very first time,

I po prvi put,

I actually performed the trick

zapravo sam izveo trik

koji su mi pokazali u Aušvicu na krevetu na sprat.

that was shown to me in Auschwitz on top of a bunk bed.

And it worked.

I uspeo je.

It worked beautifully.

Funkcionisao je savršeno.

And I showed it to some friends of mine,

Pokazao sam ga nekim svojim prijateljima,

and they loved it.

i svidelo im se.

And I went to a magic store, and I bought some magic tricks,

Otišao sam u mađioničarsku radnju, kupio neke trikove,

and I showed them to my friends,

i pokazao ih svojim prijateljima,

and I bought some more magic tricks

pa sam kupio još trikova

and I showed it to them.

i pokazao im.

And then I bought some magic books, and I bought some more magic books.

A onda sam kupio mađioničarske knjige, i još mađioničarskih knjiga.

There's a very, very thin line

Vrlo je tanka linija

između hobija i ludila.

between a hobby and insanity.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

Anyway, I got married,

U svakom slučaju, oženio sam se,

and I came to the United States,

i došao u Sjedinjene Države,

and one of the first jobs that I had

i jedan od prvih poslova koje sam imao

demanded from me to speak to small groups of people.

zahtevao je da razgovaram sa malim grupama ljudi.

And I managed it, I was very good at it.

I išlo mi je, bio sam baš dobar u tome.

And then, 25 years ago, I retired.

Pre 25 godina, otišao sam u penziju.

And I started speaking in schools.

Počeo sam da govorim u školama.

And the only reason why I could speak in schools

I jedini razlog što sam mogao to

is because a very friendly man

je taj što je jedan vrlo srdačan čovek

showed a rather scared kid a card trick

pokazao trik sa kartama jednom vrlo uplašenom dečaku

in a concentration camp.

u koncentracionom logoru.

This man who showed it to me, Mr. Levine,

Taj čovek koji mi je pokazao, gdin Levin,

had been a professional magician.

bio je profesionalni mađioničar.

He worked in Germany,

Radio je u Nemačkoj,

and when he came to Auschwitz, the SS knew who he was,

i kada je stigao u Aušvic, SS ga je znao,

so they gave him some cards,

pa su mu dali karte,

they gave him a piece of string,

i parče kanapa,

they gave him some dice,

par kockica,

and he performed for them.

i on je izvodio trikove za njih.

And then he also taught some of them.

A onda je i mene naučio neke.

He survived the war,

Preživeo je rat,

but his wife and his son died.

ali su njegova žena i sin poginuli.

He came to the United States and performed in various venues,

Došao je u Sjedinjene Države i izvodio trikove na raznim događajima,

but I never met him again.

ali se nikada nismo opet sreli.

But the trick that he showed me stayed with me

Ali trik koji mi je pokazao je ostao sa mnom

and enabled me to go around schools

i omogućio mi da idem po školama

and try to make this world just a little bit better.

i pokušam da napravim od ovog sveta samo malo bolje mesto.

So if you ever know somebody who needs help,

Ako ikada upoznate nekog kome je potrebna pomoć,

if you know somebody who is scared,

ili nekog ko je uplašen,

be kind to them.

budite dobri prema njemu.

Give them advice,

Posavetujte ga,

give them a hug,

zagrlite,

teach them a card trick.

naučite trik sa kartama.

Whatever you are going to do,

Šta god uradite,

it's going to be hope for them.

ta osoba će dobiti nadu.

And if you do it at the right time,

I ako to uradite u pravo vreme,

it will enter their heart,

ućiće u njegovo srce,

and it will be with them wherever they go, forever.

i biće s njim gde god ide, zauvek.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)