I opened the curtains and tried to contain my anger. I saw all the other kids grudgingly walking to school, not realizing how lucky they were. I wasn’t allowed to go to school, the park, the swimming pool, the ice rink, anywhere. The signs read ‘no dogs or Jews allowed’.

Among the people walking in the streets I saw my friend Anna. I waved and she waved back with a worried expression on her face before her mother grabbed her hand and walked on. No one wanted to be associated with me or my family anymore.

I hadn’t realized that the worst was yet to come. That night my mother kissed me goodnight for the last time. The next day she was deported. They came for my father next, leaving me and my three siblings all alone. It wasn’t long though before we were called to the train station, loaded into cattle cars and sent to our final destination, Auschwitz. My only comfort was knowing I’d be with my parents soon.