photo #8496351

August 6, 1942 | The Auschwitz commandant receives an order stating that “all hair cut from prisoners must be used.” Men's hair was intended for industrial felt, women's hair for so-called “human wool” socks. “I remember that we stood naked in the sauna, in line to have our hair removed, and I wondered—what are all these men doing here? We couldn’t recognize one another anymore. I approached one of the Jewish guards and asked him if he would have a word with someone so that they wouldn’t cut off my pigtails, and he replied that so long as I had a head, hair would grow, while if I didn’t have a head, I wouldn’t need hair anyway.” Dita (Kurschner) Segal