The 23rd Psalm: A Holocaust Memoir

241 Pages·2002·1.29 MB·English

by  George Lucius Salton

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“A powerful, searing recollection of the past, telling a The 23rd Psalm
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George Salton’s story with a fierce integrity that is t A Holocaust Memoir
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both descriptive and introspective. Unlike the psalmist, George Lucius Salton
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with Anna Salton Eisen
Salton walked through the valley in the presence – not
the shadow – of death, and he feared evil. Rightfully so, In September 1939, George Lucius
for God was absent and there was no comfort. Yet, he Salton’s (Luzek Saltzman) boyhood in
Tyczyn, Poland, was shattered by
lived to tell the tale and for this we must be forever
escalating violence and terror under
grateful.” — German occupation. His father, a
lawyer, was forbidden to work, but
eleven-year-old Luzek dug potatoes,
split wood, and resourcefully helped
his family. They suffered hunger and
deprivation, a forced march to the
“When Simon Dubnow, the renowned historian of Rzeszow ghetto, then eternal separation
European Jewry, was led away to his death, his final when fourteen-year-old Luzek and his
brother were left behind to labor in
outcry was ‘Yidn shreibt und farshreit!’ (Jews write and
record!). George Salton in his memoir, The 23rd T work camps while their parents were
h deported in boxcars to die in Belzec.
Psalm, fulfills Dubnow’s legacy in a faithful manner,
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George Lucius Salton (Luzek reflecting on the pains and agonies of those bitter years. 2 slavFeodr a tnhde nbeaxrte ltyh rseuer yveivaerds, iLnu zteekn
Saltzman) immigrated to the United This is a book to be read and passed down to our 3 concentration camps, including
States after liberation. He earned children to read.”— Rzeszow, Plaszow, Flossenburg, Colmar,
degrees in physics and engineering, rd AA HHoollooccaauusstt MMeemmooiirr Sachsenhausen, Braunschweig,
and had a successful career in the || GGeeoorrggee LLuucciiuuss SSaallttoonn Ravensbrück, and Wobbelin. Cattle
p
U.S. Department of Defense and cars filled with skeletal men emptied
private industry. He lives in Palm “This powerful memoir articulates the daily life of a s into a train yard in Colmar, France.
Beach Gardens, Florida. Jew enslaved by the Nazis and forced to do their a Luzek and the other prisoners
bidding and obey their every whim in a series of marched under the whips and fists of
l SS guards. But here, unlike the taunts
concentration camps. The graphic description of
m and rocks from villagers in Poland and
the slave's miserable condition is counterpointed to Germany, there was applause.“I could
For more information about
the hope of liberation, in a contemporary version clearly hear the people calling: ‘Shame!
University of Wisconsin Press
books, see our Web site at www. of the Biblical exodus from Egypt. Paradoxically, Shame!’ . . . Suddenly, I realized that
the people of Colmar were applauding
wisc.edu/wisconsinpress readers will find this an account of the triumph of
us! They were condemning the
hope over hatred.” — inhumanity of the Germans!”
Of the 500 Nazi prisoners who
marched through the streets of Colmar
in the spring of 1944, just fifty were
alive one year later, when the U.S.
The University of Wisconsin Press | Madison, Wisconsin Army 82nd Airborne Division liberated
W the Wobbelin concentration camp on
the afternoon of May 2, 1945. “I felt
I
S something stir deep within my soul. It
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was my true self, the one who had stayed
O deep within and had not forgotten how
N to love and how to cry, the one who
had chosen life and was still standing
S
I when the last roll call ended.”
N
The 23rd Psalm

The 23rd Psalm
A Holocaust Memoir
George Lucius Salton
with Anna Salton Eisen
THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN PRESS
The University of Wisconsin Press
1930 Monroe Street
Madison, Wisconsin 53711
www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/
3 Henrietta Street
London WC2E 8LU, England
Copyright © 2002
The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
All rights reserved
5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Salton, George Lucius.
The 23rd Psalm: a Holocaust memoir / George Lucius Salton; with assistance by AnnaT.
Eisen.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-299-17970-2
1. Salton, George Lucius. 2.Jews—Poland—Tyczyn (Rzeszów)—Biography.
3.Holocaust, Jewish (1939–1945)—Poland—Tyczyn (Rzeszów)—Personal narratives.
4.Tyczyn (Rzeszów, Poland)—Biography. I.Title: Twenty-third Psalm. II.Eisen, AnnaT.
III.Title.
DS135.P63 S2457 2002
940.53'18'092—dc21
2002002834
To my wife Ruth,
to my children Henry, Alan, and Anna,
and to my grandchildren
Daniel, Sarah, Benjamin, Joshua, Erica and Aaron,
whose love and goodness
I cherish.

A Psalm of David
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul;
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me;
Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;
Thou anointed my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 23, Jewish Family Bible

The 23rd Psalm