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Dear Diary,
Two pages left. Can you believe it? Well, I searched my soul last night. I had a conference with that girl I once knew. I prayed deeply and sincerely, asked for guidance and strength I needed for my decision. I have a different outlook on life. I said in the beginning I wouldn't give up. I set an example for my little sister, my inmates, and for Aaron and I'm not about to quit on myself.

When they come for me, I'm not going down without a fight. I'm going to survive this "holocaust," I'm going to go with Aaron tomorrow night, escape with the protection of God, and we're going to live well to a ripe old age somewhere far from Hitler and the Nazi threat. Call it a fairytale ending if you will, but I'm going to believe in it.

Tomorrow I shall rise.

And I am going to live my last day as a prisoner. This is a promise: I will survive.

 

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Erika Stadtler left four blank pages in her diary. The day after her last entry, she tried to save two little girls who were weak with typhus from the Nazi soldiers who had come to kill them. She fought as well as she could, but was shot in the stomach, then dragged to the gas chambers with the children she had tried to protect. That night, eighteen Jews escaped from the camp; their leader, Aaron Sylvon unfortunately did not make it past the fence. He was shot in the back of the head while holding up the barbed-wire fence for another while they escaped. The diary remained hidden until US troops infiltrated the camp and searched it for evidence of Nazi cruelty. This diary, a legacy left behind by a young woman, helped spread the truth. In memory of a courageous girl, we just want to say
Thank you, Erika.