Sometimes a Minute Sometimes a Lifetime
BY MOSHE KATZ
CEO
ISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL

October 19, 2026, Israel

Sometimes pain lasts a minute.

Sometimes pain lasts a lifetime.

Sometimes pain never goes away, even after generations.

My relationship with pain extends far beyond my own lifetime, I channel this into my Krav Maga, my pain, my caring, my love, it is all one, and it never goes away.

But others have expressed it better. Allow me to introduce you to someone special, but first a few words

This is the train station Treblinka, this is the train station Treblinka, it is the line from Tłuszcz to Warsaw/Warszawa, from the train station Warsaw Oust/East trains go out, and travel straight, sometimes the journey lasts five hours and another forty-five minutes and sometimes the journey lasts an entire lifetime, until your death.

The man who wrote these words was a Polish Jew named Władysław Szlengel, a writer who often published in Nasz Przegląd. On the 8th of May 1943, during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the Germans discovered his hiding place, in the bunker of Shimon Katz on Świętokrzyska 36 (ul) street where he was hiding with fighters of the Jewish fighting organization Żydowski Związek Wojskowy. He was murdered along with his wife and about 160 other Jews who were hiding in the bunker, hoping to live. He was 31 when he was murdered, but some of his writings survived the Destruction.

He left us this song, this haunting vision from the past. It was put to music in 1988. (can be found on youtube, song by Yehuda Poliker)

Tłuszcz, mentioned in the song, was a ghetto near Warsaw. During the Nazi occupation, in September 1940, the Germans created a ghetto for Jewish residents. About 1000 Jews stayed there. On 27 May 1942, they were transported to the ghetto in Warsaw, and from there to the Treblinka II death camp and murdered there.

Sometimes pain lasts a minute, sometimes it lasts a few hours, sometimes it lasts until you die. We must remember that. The train station Treblinka, in my mind it still exists, just waiting for the right moment to be reactivated, we stand guard.

And there is no cash register...and even for a million you cannot purchase a return ticket, and no one is waiting to greet you at the station. No one is waving goodbye. Just silence and an old worn-out sign that reads, cook only with gas.

Sometimes the pain lasts a moment, sometimes a lifetime, and sometimes beyond...

כאן התחנה טרבלינקה
כאן התחנה טרבלינקה
בקו שבין טלושץ' לוורשה
מתחנת הרכבת וורשאו אוסט
יוצאים ברכבת ונוסעים ישר
הנסיעה נמשכת לפעמים
חמש שעות ועוד ארבעים וחמש דקות
ולפעמים נמשכת אותה נסיעה
חיים שלמים עד מותך
והתחנה היא קטנטונת
שלושה אשוחים גדלים בה
וכתובת רגילה אומרת:
כאן התחנה טרבלינקה
כאן התחנה טרבלינקה

ואין אפילו קופה
גם איש המטענים איננו
ובעבור מליון
לא תקבל כרטיס חזור
ואיש לא מחכה בתחנה
ואף אחד לא מנפנף שם במטפחת
רק באויר תלויה דממה
לקדם פניך בשממה אטומה
ושותק עמוד התחנה
ושותקים שלושת האשוחים
שותקת הכתובת השחורה
כי כאן התחנה טרבלינקה
כאן התחנה טרבלינקה
ורק שלט פרסומת
תלוי עוד מאז
סיסמה ישנה ובלויה האומרת:
"בשלו רק בגאז"
כאן התחנה טרבלינקה
כאן התחנה טרבלינקה

Moshe Katz, 7th dan Black Belt, Israeli Krav Maga. Certified by Wingate Institute. Member Black Belt hall of fame, USA and Europe.

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Sometimes a Minute Sometimes a LifetimeBY MOSHE KATZ CEOISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL

Understand the Israeli Fighting Mentality - Israel a Nation of Warriors by Moshe Katz

Sometimes a Minute Sometimes a Lifetime
BY MOSHE KATZ
CEO
ISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL