You Didn’t Have To Do It

You didn’t have to do it. You didn’t have to kill me.

You didn’t have to do it—you wanted to.

You didn’t have to do it, but you hated me and didn’t think twice.

You hated me, why?

You hated me because someone told you to hate me. Were you that stupid that you couldn’t make up your mind?

No one could make you love someone you didn’t want to love. Yet, they could make you hate someone you didn’t know. A child you didn’t know.

You hated me, but I did not hate you. How could I? I didn’t know you. I have been a dear friend because that is my name Liebfreund and it means dear friend.

Aren’t you embarrassed that a nine-year-old boy knows more than you? A nine-year-old boy who knows that it is wrong to hate. Because hate turns to anger, anger turns to bitterness, bitterness turns into self-pity. It is this self-pity that turned you into this pathetic excuse of a human being. Some people call you a monster, but you are not—you are a human being. You are responsible for your actions.

I am Gemmi Liebfreund. I was born on 7 October 1933 in the Hague. I was killed in Sobibor on 13 March 1943.