The Boy From Buchenwald: Chapters 4–7

by Robbie Waisman, Susan McClelland
Born Romek Wajsman in Poland's Skarżysko-Kamienna, an eighty-nine-year-old Canadian activist remembers how he survived the Holocaust, first as an eleven-year-old slave laborer in a German-occupied factory and later as a teenage prisoner in concentration camps.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Introduction–Chapter 3, Chapters 4–7, Chapters 8–12, Chapters 13–17, Chapter 18–Epilogue
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. partisan
    a fervent and even militant proponent of something
    German and Polish police, Papa had told me, spent their nights in the forests looking to shoot partisans and runaway Jews.
  2. oust
    remove from a position or office
    He and his posse of partisans—a military movement aimed at ousting the Germans from Poland—were sitting in a semicircle around a blazing fire that probably could have been seen all the way in Kraków.
  3. subvert
    cause the downfall of
    They gave me a cause: subvert the Nazis.
  4. disclose
    make known to the public information previously kept secret
    But they never disclosed their plans to me.
  5. renegade
    having deserted a cause or principle
    All I saw was a bunch of renegade older teenagers.
  6. disheveled
    in disarray; extremely disorderly
    My bedsheet, for we had these now, was lying disheveled on the floor, likely from my having kicked it off during the night.
  7. endure
    face and withstand with courage
    Nights, I had first discovered back in the ghetto, were the toughest to endure. Night was when the dybbuks, the spirits of displaced souls, got in, Jakow had told me. The wailing, crying, shaking...tears of people unsure whether this night would be their last.
  8. trough
    a container from which cattle or horses feed
    There were these cow trough-like contraptions that Salek said were bathtubs, which could fit a grown man the size of Jakow.
  9. stifle
    smother or suppress
    I stifled a laugh.
  10. decree
    issue an authoritative order
    It wasn’t long after that the Nazis banned Jewish children from going to school and decreed that Jewish schools and ceremonies were illegal.
  11. exodus
    a journey by a large group to escape from a hostile environment
    When Salek and I entered the dining room, Madame Rachel Minc, who was in charge of the lists but also recited poetry to us at night, was reading the story of Moses and his exodus from Egypt to a few of the boys who couldn’t sleep.
  12. devout
    deeply religious
    They were religiously devout and had asked OSE staff for kosher food.
  13. gait
    a person's manner of walking
    I watched Elie move, his gait so smooth, like he was floating, almost like a specter, his feet not touching the ground.
  14. specter
    a ghostly appearing figure
    I watched Elie move, his gait so smooth, like he was floating, almost like a specter, his feet not touching the ground.
  15. posse
    an informal group of friends
    Satisfied we had enough food, Abe and I, and our growing posse that included Salek and two other Polish boys, Joe and Marek, started making our way to leave.
  16. flushed
    reddened as if with blood from emotion or exertion
    Madame Minc entered the room, her face fresh not flushed, her expression belying the fact that outside her office, a battle in the dining room was raging.
  17. belie
    be in contradiction with
    Madame Minc entered the room, her face fresh not flushed, her expression belying the fact that outside her office, a battle in the dining room was raging.
  18. foyer
    a large entrance or reception room or area
    I could hear the ticking of the large grandfather clock in the foyer.
  19. chide
    scold or reprimand severely or angrily
    In turns, they ruffled my hair and chided that they had been waiting for me.
  20. stealthily
    in a manner marked by quiet and caution and secrecy
    Then we walked stealthily, quietly, until we found another path leading us into a forest.
  21. meander
    move or cause to move in a winding or curving course
    We twisted and meandered, crossing streams by hopping over rocks and tiptoeing across decaying tree trunks covered in blue-green lichen and moss that we pretended were bridges.
  22. downplay
    understate the importance or quality of
    My face, even though Abe and the men on the train downplayed it, was burned.
  23. cauterize
    burn, sear, or freeze using a hot iron or electric current
    That disinfectant ended up saving my life, because it was so strong that it cauterized my wounds.
  24. scaffold
    provide with a temporary arrangement for support
    One house had scaffolding holding up one of its sides.
  25. astride
    with one leg on each side
    My feet couldn’t reach the pedals. Until my legs grew longer, I sat astride the frame and pushed the bike with my legs.
  26. barren
    completely wanting or lacking
    “Whose burnt and barren brick, whose charred stones reveal
    The open mouths of such wounds, that no mending
    Shall ever mend, nor healing ever heal...”
  27. gruff
    blunt and unfriendly or stern
    “Don’t mention Nathan’s name again,” I said in a gruff voice.
  28. atrocity
    an act of shocking cruelty
    “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”
  29. allocate
    distribute according to a plan or set apart for a purpose
    At one point, we Jews were allocated as little as two hundred calories a day per person.
  30. makeshift
    done or made using whatever is available
    The price to buy extra food, like a loaf of bread or a few potatoes, smuggled into the ghetto and sold in makeshift markets, was one thousand times what it would usually cost, and no one had any money.
  31. allegedly
    according to what has been declared but not proved
    His plan, allegedly, was to detonate the grenades under their vehicles.
  32. listless
    lacking zest or vivacity
    A week passed, as I wasted away in bed, my limbs listless, drifting in and out of dreams and sleep, nightmares, which I would awaken from in a cold sweat to the professor, who it seemed was always there, his face awash with concern.
  33. falter
    walk unsteadily
    When I stretched my legs over the bed, my head swooned at first, and I faltered, gripping a dresser, as I tried to walk to the washroom.
  34. prompt
    urge, encourage, or motivate someone to act
    What also prompted me to get up was that sometime over the past week, I had devised a new strategy for surviving: if I wasn’t going to Poland, meeting up with my family who would be waiting for me there, I would find them all in Europe.
  35. devise
    come up with after a mental effort
    What also prompted me to get up was that sometime over the past week, I had devised a new strategy for surviving: if I wasn’t going to Poland, meeting up with my family who would be waiting for me there, I would find them all in Europe.
  36. socialist
    advocating the state ownership of industry
    I knew that at Buchenwald there were arguments between Rabbi Shachter, who wanted us boys to go west to democratic countries, and the Communists in the camp, who were encouraging the older boys to return to their countries and help in the socialist movement.
  37. charisma
    personal attractiveness that enables you to influence others
    He gave off a similar air as Salek: a know-it-all, someone I didn’t trust completely, but he also caught my interest. It wasn’t just his charisma that seemed to mystify the other boys.
  38. pogrom
    organized persecution of an ethnic group, especially Jews
    “Look at what our prophets got us: a history filled with persecution, pogroms, and now this mass murder,” Ralph said with a moan as the room filled with a collective gasp.
  39. gentile
    a Christian as contrasted with a Jew
    With Communism, there’s complete equality. Man, woman, gentile, Jew, rich, and poor, all equal.
  40. meek
    evidencing little spirit or courage
    “The gods I saw at Buchenwald were Tall Willy and Jakow,” I said in a meek voice, in part from having not spoken for more than a week, in part from nerves that I was saying something that was wrong, that I knew my family would never approve of.
Created on Mon Dec 11 11:39:50 EST 2023 (updated Tue Dec 12 13:03:11 EST 2023)

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