Sukkot March of Those Who Never Yielded

80 years since Sukkot 5704 (1943), Plaszow Camp, in the suburbs of Krakow

A sukkah in the Lodz Ghetto

This month was the month of the largest killing in our camp. The oppressors demanded sacrifices from us for every holiday and occasion, and despite this, what did the remaining Jews worry about? They thought of tricks on how to observe the mitzvah of sukkah and blessing “Shehechiyanu” (Who kept us alive) during the holiday known as “Zman Simchateinu” (the time of our happiness)!

A man holding a lulav (palm frond) in a DP camp

On the first night of the holiday, a secret march continued in one of the corners of the camp. Where did the march go to? A truly short-lived Sukkah, erected in the “tree square” of the camp. The workers who worked in this department built a kind of “warehouse” in it during the day, as if to store their work tools. The “warehouse” was without a roof and was covered with kosher schach (rood made of branches or other natural material), which was accumulated from the remains of the sawdust, and this sukkah attracted all the prisoners of the camp. The news was passed by word of mouth, and the Jews risked leaving their barracks and headed towards the secret sukkah. I was also among those going there. I stopped inside the “warehouse” for a moment, I said the “Shehechiyanu” blessing, and came out the other side. There was no time to linger, because the march continued on…

(From the testimony of Shmelke Lifshitz, in “Those Who Never Yielded,” Bnei Brak, 5723/1963, pages 113-114)