The Bataan Death March, 1942 "I walk and walk.. Dragging my feet behind my #lifeless body. I hear him say: 'no more..' I still keep on walking; am I trying to survive? Why? It seems so very pointless, though I keep going anyway. His weightless body falls on the dirty ground and makes a sound they all make, just before leaving this world. He was one of many who's #life ended on this road to hell." The walk of shame, they told me, This one you could not foresee. Dry days will take your head, Better keep up, or soon you'll be dead. What fate will you choose? It may not matter, For mother nature too, will make you lose. Get up, keep on walking, There is no time for rest. The Japanese will end your #life, Don't put it to a test. Again, that horrible sound, When a soldier's body hits the ground. I told him to move along, To the heavens he will now belong. Twice came the shots, I couldn't get myself to look, As a lion he will be in my thoughts, And as a man of honor in the book. Cap's pockets got searched, The big guy found a Yen. Anger again riddled this man. This time the horror was clear for me to see, The thing that no one could foresee. He swung his sword over my friends' head, The body fell on the floor with hands moving frantically, Again, another one dead. © Ceyda Gundogan 2017

Berga An Den Elster "Heraus! Heraus!" We could hear them scream outside the stalags. The work must have been slow that day because of the deaths happening around us. People were falling down due to lack of food and water. Even if we got water it wasn't clean; they made us boil it ourselves. The filthy air of the tunnels makes us even sicker. George died last night. I think it was the combination of both dysentry and malnutrition. I'm suffering from that as we speak. "If I make it out alive I will make them all pay," is what I keep telling myself. They haven't caught me yet. The existence of this journal is to be kept a secret, for now. It is of grave importance that people read about our horrible experiences. People need to know about George and Sal. "They" should know about them. Take a good look, This is your home now. Stalag XI-B recommended by the Führer, slaves of the Reich, Disingenuity we do not allow. Stripped of all your pride, Your cries will be in vain, For your misfortune you will be tried, This new home will teach you pain. © Ceyda Gundogan 2017