“They gassed them,” Pearl says.

“They gave them a towel,” Helen chimes in, “and a soap to make believe they were going for a shower, and then when they were inside—”

“—instead of water,” Pearl interjects.

“—the Zyclon gas came down.” Helen’s hands are in a fist against her belly.

“That’s how my father and my sister and her children died,” Pearl says. “We never saw them anymore.”

****

“That was Mengele who was doing the selections,” Pearl recalls. “He was waving his wand—whatever you call it. To the right, you still have a chance of living. To the left, all the elderly, the sick, the little ones, they all went to the left and those were taken straight with the towels.”

I ask Pearl to describe Mengele, and her eyes light up. “He was the most handsomest—”

“Like Clark Gable,” Helen interjects.

“He was tall and the most handsome guy,” Pearl continues. “He should have been an actor or something and not killed Jews. His boots-—they were so shiny that instead of a mirror, you could have used his boots.”