First as a child prisoner of just 4 years old. He has only fragments of memories from his time here: Staring out at barbed wire, running down concrete stairs, hiding in a corner. And one especially vivid memory that still haunts his dreams, the bloodied face of an elderly man.
Last year, he visited the German Nazi-run concentration camp as a survivor. He came for closure and says he felt an overwhelming sense of relief.
During the 70-year memorial for the liberation of Auschwitz on Tuesday, he visited the camp in search for his identical twin brother, separated shortly after liberation.
“Sometimes I stare at people in the street, and I look for someone who looks like me,” he said. “My biggest hope is my brother will be here. Maybe from another country. Or maybe another survivor can tell me something, recognize me or remember us both. Anything.”
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Is it a dream or does he believe it will become a reality?
“Maybe, I don’t know.” He says.
But standing in the snow, outside the very building he was held as a prisoner as a young boy, Menachem insists he has not given up. “No, not at all.” He says, “It only makes me want to search for him even more.”
In Auschwitz, the place of his nightmares, Menachem still finds hope to dream.
