• Welcome
    • Purpose
    • Statement of Faith
  • My Apology
  • TESTIMONY
    • English
    • Chinese Translation
    • Dutch Translation
    • French Translation
    • German Translation
    • Italian Translation
    • Portuguese Translation
    • Russian Translation
    • Spanish Translation
    • Turkish Translation
  • READY OR NOT...
  • My Story - Videos
    • In His Own Words
    • Video Interviews
    • Written Interviews
    • Son of Hope Gospel Tract
  • Journal
    • 2022 >
      • January 2022
      • February 2022
      • March 2022
      • *April 2022
    • 2021 >
      • January 2021
      • February 2021
      • March 2021
      • April 2021
      • May 2021
      • June 2021
      • July 2021
      • August 2021
      • September 2021
      • October 2021
      • November 2021
      • December 2021
    • 2020 >
      • January 2020
      • February 2020
      • March 2020
      • April 2020
      • May 2020
      • June 2020
      • July 2020
      • August 2020
      • September 2020
      • October 2020
      • November 2020
      • December 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2014-2005
  • Updates
  • For Parents and Students
    • General Advice for Parents
    • Advice For Troubled Teens
    • School Projects
    • Jailhouse Interview
    • A Letter to David from Youth Minister Dan Bailey
    • Suicide is Everyone's Business
    • What is Prison All About?
  • For Satanists
    • A Letter to a Satanist
    • Carl Sartor's Story
    • Satan's Bible
    • Jailhouse Interview
  • A Letter to a Soldier
  • Ministry Tools
  • Insights and Miscellaneous
    • A Letter to North Shore Baptist Church
    • Jesus Christ, the True Treasure and Pearl of Great Price!
    • He Knows Your Name
  • Parole Hearing Transcript 2016
  • Friends
  • Inspirational Testimonies
    • Tracey Anne's Testimony
  • Contact
  • Welcome
    • Purpose
    • Statement of Faith
  • My Apology
  • TESTIMONY
    • English
    • Chinese Translation
    • Dutch Translation
    • French Translation
    • German Translation
    • Italian Translation
    • Portuguese Translation
    • Russian Translation
    • Spanish Translation
    • Turkish Translation
  • READY OR NOT...
  • My Story - Videos
    • In His Own Words
    • Video Interviews
    • Written Interviews
    • Son of Hope Gospel Tract
  • Journal
    • 2022 >
      • January 2022
      • February 2022
      • March 2022
      • *April 2022
    • 2021 >
      • January 2021
      • February 2021
      • March 2021
      • April 2021
      • May 2021
      • June 2021
      • July 2021
      • August 2021
      • September 2021
      • October 2021
      • November 2021
      • December 2021
    • 2020 >
      • January 2020
      • February 2020
      • March 2020
      • April 2020
      • May 2020
      • June 2020
      • July 2020
      • August 2020
      • September 2020
      • October 2020
      • November 2020
      • December 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2014-2005
  • Updates
  • For Parents and Students
    • General Advice for Parents
    • Advice For Troubled Teens
    • School Projects
    • Jailhouse Interview
    • A Letter to David from Youth Minister Dan Bailey
    • Suicide is Everyone's Business
    • What is Prison All About?
  • For Satanists
    • A Letter to a Satanist
    • Carl Sartor's Story
    • Satan's Bible
    • Jailhouse Interview
  • A Letter to a Soldier
  • Ministry Tools
  • Insights and Miscellaneous
    • A Letter to North Shore Baptist Church
    • Jesus Christ, the True Treasure and Pearl of Great Price!
    • He Knows Your Name
  • Parole Hearing Transcript 2016
  • Friends
  • Inspirational Testimonies
    • Tracey Anne's Testimony
  • Contact
AriseandShine.org

October 2020

Outliving My Captors

10/6/2020

 
Prison can be a sad and oppressive place if one allows it to be… 
Or it can be a place for reflection, growth, and learning as a man begins to come to terms with discovering who he is on the inside, and what he needs to change in order to become a better person.

I don't think I could've survived these forty-three years of imprisonment if not for the Lord. He not only saved my soul, He saved my mind from cracking up from the stresses that come with incarceration. While on a number of occasions He spared me from suffering bodily harm, as well.

When I first came to prison in 1978, I was sent to one of New York's most notorious prisons, Attica! It was known for its violence. Sadly, it was also known for having one of the worst prison riots in American history. A hostage situation turned deadly leaving, if I remember correctly, forty-three prisoners and guards dead.

When I got to Attica tensions were still high. Many of the correction officers who worked there had gone through the Attica riot. Some of them lost loved ones who also worked there, or knew coworkers who perished in the retaking of the prison.

Many of those who survived the riot back in 1971 were still angry and bitter. They let me know from the very first day of my arrival there, that if I were to ever get out of line, they would give me the beating of my life, and might even end up taking my life.

It was in this environment where I got my first taste of doing hard time. As a "new jack" to the system, I would have a lot to learn, and I had to learn the ropes quickly. Fights and even stabbings were an almost daily occurrence. For the time being, Attica was my hell on earth.

Fortunately, as time went on, I met up with a number of decent and friendly fellow prisoners who were a big help with my adjusting to incarceration.I met a number of decent and fair-minded guards as well. 

But in this environment, one may also encounter staff who don't like inmates, even hate us. They will let it be known, too. I had my share of them. Some of whom even took bets as to how long I would live before another prisoner would take my life. But God, I believe, would not allow for it to happen.

Ironically, as fate would have it, I would outlive all the guards who bet on my demise. I've nothing against them, and I barely remember their faces. But I do remember their mocking laughter and jokes. "Hey, Davey, you're still with us, huh?" and "We've got a pine box ready for you, Berkowitz."

I know my life meant little to them. But this was also their way of coping with having to work in such a depressing place. Infamous Attica is known for its suicides and acts of violence. It's a place that's filled with raging anger and bitterness, and where men are locked away, many for the rest of their lives.

Now, decades later, and from the vantage point of today, I live with the sobering realization that not only have I survived what many believed would be impossible odds, but that I actually outlived those who once thought my death was imminent.

Sadly, they're all gone having lost their lives to on the job heart attacks, or from an array of natural causes. Some even from alcoholism, as I would later learn. It's humbling to realize I have outlived those who wished me harm.

D. B.

Comments are closed.

    Author

    David Berkowitz
    Copyright © AriseandShine.Org

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly