when my turn came, to my great surprise, mengele stopped me. motioned to stop. and he says, "tell me, little boy, how old are you?" i am 13, i replied, previously coached to say more than i was because they said i had a better chance to survive in being sent to work rather than immediately being sent to the gas chamber. when he was -- mengele was sort of looking at me with a suspicion, suspiciously, because i really didn't look not even 13. my frail body and pale, and i did not go out to play football or soccer with the boys. but i was always practicing. the violin. miraculously, he was motioning me to the group where my father and brother were. after the selection was over, my mother, my younger sister, and the group that they were in were led away. i didn't know that i have seen them for the last time. they were taken directly to the gas chamber. they were told that "you have to take a shower," in order to camouflage really what they wanted to do. the ss would issue a towel and a bar of soap. there was actually a house where was written the words "bath" and ea