Holocaust Survivors speak at Zichron Europe Event Lakewood 2013

[Music] like to welcome everyone come to Europe tonight in nine days we implemented Europe last year the learn Network title because we have weekly evenings of different and speaking throughout the yearo on Thursdays so we felt it was was a important to remember in the nine days thean Europe and we should pass it on for generations to come so that's that's how the Europe came about we have two Co survivors this evening who came out to share their stories with us and it's not easy for them to speak it's not a story of growing up in the country it's painful and RIS the first time last year he agreed to speak about it because he saw the generations New Generation coming and the old generation going and there's not much of the new gener generation can hear from the old generation so he strengthened himself and picked himself up and said fine I'm willing I'm willing to speak and after last year he spoke for us in boltimore he spoke in John Hopkins and he brought copies after he spoke they they did research in John Hopkins and they found papers from him going to the camps documented surgery that was for your foot but I'll tell you the story and people can see it we have it blown up over here on the wall we pass it around we have other copies we also have a ape chapnik from Howell New Jersey went through the B Camp G together with Chief Rabbi RAB Lao and his older brother and he's going to show it up F his stories for us to remember for our children to remember I want to share with you a small story that I didn't intend to say until I pulled up to the Sho head first of all I would like to thank M liman for ranging and all the other people who involved in the show giving us the the whole and all the other sponsors and Amy for helping us set up the screen and parot for coming down to the video and everyone else thank you and I pulled up over here to the driveway I didn't even know where the she was exactly I recall 12 years ago I used to drive around Lakewood when this neighborhood wasn't really established I used like to know who owned which houses and sniff around a bit and a few houses away from this sh I remember knocking on the door and the old lady opened the door and asked her her name do she own the house does she want to sell the house and she tells me she's Jewish I saw a big cross on the door and she tells me that her husband's Christian so I took interest in her and I said you know forget about trying to buy the property but like if you're Jewish and your husband is a go like why did you marry him and she started telling me her story in the Holocaust that right be that in Europe she was a young girl and she used get beaten up in school of being Jewish and went through the Holocaust and she was terrified to identify herself as a Jew so she married a go she thought it security this is a few houses away from this Sho so I'm sharing the story with you when I pulled up I remember remember that story there most of the story but I'm not here to say my story at this point I'd like to introduce sh brisk thank you very much thank you for the introduction [Music] Manion she brisk I was born in Romania part of a country called Transylvania which switched hands between Hungary and Romania time I was born it was Romania and at the time Jewish population and the grandfather was the Roa Village about 60 to 100 Families Our Village is called leet and couple laboring Villages the life before the early 40s was pretty much Cal Went to went to in the morning it's about 7:00 was Wonder for about 15 to 18 children starting from alive Bas to Gora we had to go to public school there's no jeur schools but public school was uh six days a week we went to public school 9:00 till 2:00 and 3:00 back to and my grandfather as Village was very uh friendly with the director of the school rang that from go to shabas you can just go for 2 hours not to carry books just to sit there be counted this went on very well and about uh 6 I was about 6 years old a parents moved to a different location in in St Pennsylvania was called uh J my father came a position as a Ro again traveling between little Villages back and forth so I was there about 2 years it was not a gooder for my age so when older brother and I went back to to our mother's parents grandparents and 1941 42 and Hungary joined the axis the German uh forces they divided Transylvania part went to Romania part went to Hungary the village where uh a parents live Luna was on the border of Hungary and Romania Jews born there were not born there had to evacuate it had to leave the place my father got a position somewhere deep in Hungary called SAR older brother and I went stayed with our grandparents and left after U 1942 about 43 Mitzvah had a big party in Show the grandfather's house everybody shall assure this what they distributed was instead of K piece of Herring or a piece of fish every got to hold a new role I said and that was it uh app parents couldn't come was too far to travel and um in 1944 again 1943 or ending of 44 things got worse he lot of Germans moved in there and it was a group Hitler yugant where they recruited 12 year olds 13 year olds boys to train him in the military and those were very anti-semitic Jewish boys had to go to the training too but we always beaten up so we had to go we had to go and uh that's friendly uh friendly Neighbors start to become enemies remember when uh one suers evening these Hitler Youth Group wandered the streets heard s singing there are through rocks there we couldn't finish our meal then so we had to go inside spent like from bad to worse had to wear Jewish uh yellow bands Stars Jewish stars on the jacket on the hands uh armbands yellow armbands Mark Jew This was um around um April 44 they took us to a ghetto all the neighboring Villages went to the big city it's called distrs made a g there about 3,000 people from the area that area the um [Music] and the get to we right at the PES so we took some food along with us the um right after sh after we finished the uh cing to suit us they gather together lined us up into the middle of the pl took a trucks call us to the train station on the way to ushitz I picked up a big uh cattle carts like big box box carts Hing about 80 to 100 people in their families together we did put up some curtains for division one side of curtain had some water we took along other side curtain for uh waste we traveled 3 days till they got to the uh without opening those uh train doors the car doors we got to a town in czechslovakia called Kasha kosit there they open the doors they let us uh get some fresh air breathe a with then the Germans took over UT train alarians gave it up Germans took over and another day or so we traveled to oan and idz um we only had a clothes with us the hungarians Tred to take away all the all the valuables anyway so we got to oit and uh people unloading the cars they were prior prisoners mostly Polish people were there from years before the Polish were interned already in the early 40s 43 anyway U I had my children in my hand I was hiding it one of the uh people who unloaded the car saw my children so he asked me do you speak Yiddish I said yeah the reason they asked me because a lot of Hungarian Jews spoke uh mostly Hungarian or German not too much yish so I told him yes so he said you see up at the head of the line mangala he comes there he decides people where go older people go one side the children work able working people go to the other side so when you go there tell them you're 16 you're felt AR biter I spoke German so when he asked me I that's why I answer in German I got closer to him he tapped my arm and I got to the right side where the workers were uh they took us into o took us into big Barrack with a lot of showers there with everything take all our clothes off except the belt and the shoes I had a children in my shoe one after the showers they took C they shaved everybody haircut everybody and didn't had much to say those was only 13 so um and one of the guards noticed that filling and he grabbed it away so was and um into the took us into the camps the area called bir Canal that's where they had the detention almost like a transitional camp this camp where we in the group we our group was called logger a Gypsy Camp a lot of gypsies R up by the ger also and they not called out the guards called out any any anything under 18 line up on side it took us into two Barracks about 800 900,000 children AB barck the uh sleeping accommodations we had uh three tier punks about uh maybe 3 m wide each bunk each line the B caused about 30 30 chips and we set up couldn't go stretch out to sleep but we just sat on on a straw mattress Road the life in the barracks was uh pretty bearable we survived mostly um took us out every morning to count was called uphel they lined up in front of Barrack but five deep all the lines the two blocks next to each other will Lin up all the kids children together I think about over over 1,500 children L up they counted every morning after the count was done truck went by a carts went by they brought food bigger R was a nice dried out brick brick looking bread they gave us one loaf like a building brick divided for the five and each line another car came along with some liquid it's supposed to be coffee or tea I don't know what it tasted like not like that not like the tast of choice the uh after the you counts we went into the box again about 2 hours later we went out on the the plaza walking around marching counting looking back and forth and about in about a week or so when we were there they took all the children to uh out of the camp we don't know where we were going took us out in the field about a couple Kil kilometers away where we cut out s and wheelbarrows filled up wheelbarrows with s hold it to another area in the camp and planted sad OD about uh this been on for about couple of couple of days a week later back up again picked up the S haed it back to the place we took it from and kept us busy not to ra not to Rebel this was a in the evening they lined up again counted brought some evening food or some type of a soup which was supposed to be pea soup potato soup but mostly we found in it was potato peels a couple of us kids got together and said when we're liberated we're going to make a feast of potato soup PE PE and couple do who survived we did that this was around um around Tish of time The Germ knew exactly when the Jewish holidays were on this time they made a select here it's called a the selecting the young people the young boys and took them to the ceria um again big lines with five deep and the mangala came around with another SS guard they went by each line looked at it go back each line pulled out one kid the other line pulled out two kids uh we had a couple of friends who were religious like we kept ding a little bit so we stuck together and we lined up like a tall boy should not be near a short boy so we lined up symmetrically so they didn't notice a big difference and that's how the lon wife survived so that's how we went the took out at the time about maybe 6 700 kids didn't come back to the to the uh Barracks we never saw them again this went on for about a month or so maybe 6 weeks 7 weeks um before Rashana they made a select again again they pulled out little kids set them up a separate box and sealed it all they couldn't get in there also then another short kid and I were hiding in latrine and when uh they were counting at about 30 40 lines one of the counted ones ran over to us said you better come back because they're counting they let drink so we ran out and when we got there without as not SS noticing us we went back to the counted line where we were counted already as I survived the second selection um in this Camp was a famous rishel vit a Dian who later came to America opened a Shiva in Chicago haer and he kept encouraging us don't lose Faith keep up D whatever you can say bras whatever you can whatever you remember one boy remembered shma other remember Ash what remember we kept keep keeping alive they just kept kept the spirit going and um one time somebody came to our block early in the morning run quickly to block number 17 or 16 whatever it was the RAB has a fil there so couple lined up each got a Shad be had they put on a fil one day then sh he got a hold of a chauffeur he got up early in the morning and the block that was sealed off the kids they were begging him to come blood sh before they take him away somehow the uh El on the block called the Capo he agreed to uh let them in with the chauffeur it was dangerous for him because if they would caught him they would probably shoot him right away and around 5:00 in the morning on first sha we heard the teos not all 100 but we heard some uh on the second day we couldn't get him anymore he was I don't know where he he disappeared from [Music] us uh between Ram Kipper in between they took a transport of 250 260 children took us out of the camp we didn't know where we were going ended up they took us into uh Germany to a camp called U cering logger 4 was a transition Camp also we there about four or five days without any good food there went to Camp called Camp cering logger nine number nine Camp from there they took us out on on uh trucks to the German Farmers different areas we helped the farming the uh picking the crops potatoes sugar cane corns this was there about 2 3 weeks so we had a good food there the German Farmers gave us good food to cooked special and um actually they one of them were very sympathetic with us but he said they couldn't help but we have to do what we have to do and um this went around for about uh a month or maybe six weeks in uh November they liquidated our camp because there was no more work for Farmers it took us into a camp called cow byon where the Germans built underground shelters for Rockets what we did is put up telephone wires put up the heavy poles about 10 12 kids carried a pole one fell down got a hit in the head another one they kept us after us another group of kids were digging uh trenches the Germans were producing a rocket at the time that would shoot straight to England but it didn't materialize CU they British beat them before that this was in cire and then Winters came in our uh blocks were cold there was no heat there was small oven that the end of the uh block where we were which the uh block El block uh leader sat around there and as we go along every day to work it was snow I lost my shoe and I couldn't couldn't uh couldn't find something to wear so I put Rags around it with newspaper as he walked feet got frostbitten and it got so bad that I couldn't walk anymore so they put me into a called a Shonen block a block where inmobile people were put in kids again it was cold in there we bunked up two kids together three kids together and more blanket to keep warm all of a sudden one night I felt cold the kid next to me pass pass away and um I knew his family so after the war liberated I told the family would it happened but I didn't know the exact yish date but approximately when this went on till uh end of December January they liquidated this Camp so um people in the block the the block elester the leader of the block was speaking yish also he said uh when you get up walk don't crawl get somebody to help you to walk if you don't walk they're not going to take you anyway so my brother was on one side another friend on other side and we walked out to the uh train on the way to D we arrived in D again there were some uh Dutch soldiers one of German yish I told us saw me crawling there says get up straight and walk get up straight and walk so I walked into the uh walked to the truck it was fine and unloaded the trucks set at the hospital in D they assigned me to a hospital I don't know what it was away from my brother and other other kids who went different areas it turned out to me that they took me in the hospital hospital was very nice set up they they they had a show place for the for the uh um Red Cross came visiting so they showed how how well they treat the prisoners they had some uh American Soldier prisoners also so they had to show the uh how nice they were uh on January 11th I had surgery without my knowledge they took me into this operating room I amputated the uh toes and forefingers and both feet I didn't know for 3 days what happened but to change of bandages I was screaming a lot because there was no sutur ring no Anastasia so um this went on for about a week or two weeks and all of a sudden somebody saw my brother brother in a different a hospital they brought him in we sat next to each other in the hospital hospital beds hospital was uh treat was very well they changed uh Linens every other day they had good food as a Showplace for the uh Red Cross and um this a brother knew when PES was so serving the rations I didn't want to eat the bread so they put it aside on the bed figured maybe after P we eat it or not eat it so we talking whether we should eat it or not we can't eat that but we didn't have a problem because the bread disappeared so we just got some soups and uh and one time when I changed my bandages they got so weak I was scam Soo I needed blood transfusion took two prisoners from the uh soldiers fed them well and I got two transfusions of blood while I was in there and as I got better I uh couldn't walk I just was sliding around and um April 29th which was a t year we were liberated by the American Army I think it was the N the uh seventh tank division the story went on at a Jewish group tank leader when ahead of the general Force came into D because the D was rigged the hospital was rigged to be blown up as soon as the Americans arrived but the uh doctor in charge was an SS man who knew the future would be before him so he didn't blow up the hospital and then the soldiers came in I was very weak I couldn't walk so they transferred me to a hospital with army army had a hospital set up there fed me to recup grain every day got some overal team some good food and as I started getting up I uh asked the doctor give me some crutches so I can walk doctor says no crutches if you take crutches now you'll never walk and I didn't take the crutches didn't give them to me I still wanted them um and later later the year on June and July was transferred to a uh DP Camp Hospital in Fel duffing and at fing at the time the uh CL MB was there also one of the prisoners and uh he had arranged to have a kosher food for the area for the people kosher kitchen was set up set up but the MIM he uh asked joint supplied goras from the U uh the group of ronam who were helping uh refugees I forgot the name of it they sent sedur M and I was still in the hospital so somebody brought me some Kos food in the hospital the um for they set up a temporary show and they were ding there rest ker on Kipper an American Soldier walks in he wants a d Willam Kipper Lieutenant Silber his name he sat down at the end of the sh took off his shoes and uh when the Reby walked in Clos re walked in he saw him he stepped back he said you're an army an American Soldier you're they're presenting the government put your shoes on didn't want to do it he said um my parents are in willamsburg and I'm sh shabas and I'm ker one shoes came back to me and said put your shoes on he did put the shoes on within a half hour or so or an hour general Eisenhower he was President Eisenhower was the Supreme Commander allot forces at the time came to the camp to visit the camps a group Reby ahead of him went out to greet him with uh Bread and Wine like the uh tus so he was very Amazed by the greeting he asked the rabbi what can we do for you said it's a kosher food we need and we need supplies for Su y coming up and the arabin are only available in Italy so he his agitant General Patton was with him he said dispatch a plane to the Italian city the Army there get the supplies that the re needs and thank them for that the general Eisenhower said you should give him a broa give him a blessing Rabbi give me a blessing but Lieutenant silver interpreted now you see hi how look without our shoes on so that's how um and they told them uh the rabit told them you have reached your height and your command now but you're destined for a higher position to serve the American and people in the world and uh General Patton also asking for a br but he didn't get such good BR the lieutenant interpreted him said your name will be engraved in Williamsburg the um and uh in December or in November they got to brayman bramman half and that's sort of Port where ships leave to come to America and uh the closing was there and we went also from P was taken us to bman to come here they we met the rabby again and how come I I still keep it yish ding this I didn't have fill then so we switch one to the other back and forth fine fine fine fine there was a ship strike the ship didn't leave till December 9th was an Army transport Marine Marlin uh the ship held about 800 people who came to America different quotas children women children everything together and our group was there the children's group was there and in our children's group we had about 12 kids who kept shaba scosa and the every had arrang on the ship there was a Jewish Baker a Greek Jew who served the bakery for the ship for the entire population he had arranged with him that before he starts baking for the population he would come down and make special breads for our group we had pass this roow and again we had peanut butter jelly sardines daily on the ship it took us 12 days we arrived in America on 5ifth night Kaneka December 20th 46 on the ship was very hot warm again every morning a kids group Tri tried to sleep in one certain vicinity together did I woke up on of the board he said get up I through Nel vaser RAB came along with each one got Nel vaser in the morning went ding a little bit whatever we could by heart and uh one night it was very hot underneath in the lower deck so another boy and I went up on the top deck took blankets and light down there the wind was blowing it was a December so we covered ourselves but a couple hours later re comes out another way they're looking for you what are you doing up here I said we needed some air I said you foolish kids you need air why you covering with several blankets anyway so he cared we arrived was Friday a shabas the reab AR ahead of time our group was taken to the Bronx in a children's home Hadad of time people in the Bronx who live near the home to bring kosher food there was a uh Rosenberg Family Two Brothers Rosenberg and a Hersh gold gold her family there there was a sh there or RAB tum was a rabbi there they brought food Friday evening the three boys come with leather jackets and caps and we didn't know we didn't know about the food Arrangement so they brought Hala and Fish and Chicken but we don't eat it you know who it came from we ate the Kal and the fish we didn't eat the chicken and uh the morning they came back the boys came back take us to sh we went to sh said how foolish of us we need we didn't know yish Manion H Mansion B peden and K so we went there the child we got some good hot in six months we didn't um uh by uh Sunday morning the rabit arranged with the unra to release us to the aiva Sunday Monday we went back to Shiva in in uh Williamsburg South Fifth Street Shiva sh of pla um they been arranged with SH with us to send uh twice a week English teachers to teach English we good for about a year or two years it's fine and we tried to get to night school but the re was against it so we had to push it off for a while anyway later on I uh did go to to night school and uh learned some accounting and started to work and this was in uh 19 52 53 that was ini year about 6 seven years eight years and after working for a while um I had to start looking for a sh oh not a friend of mine married a girl from Baltimore so he went to visit that's how I met a future wife and um after you got married you lived in U Crown Heights for a couple of years then we moved to Baltimore and I was speaking to one of the uh galaa groups in Baltimore for um uh First Responders they had to take a class in on the Holocaust I speaking there so somebody asked me how do you feel about revenge what do you feel I said Revenge comes from God my revenge is my family every child Bo is on a Comm on Hitler that's our revenge I make one point um during this Holocaust the Clos of a grabby got um sick was lying on the ground he told his friends around him we got to this place I'm going to build a hospital for Jews in 1958 we started building a hospital in NATA kirat Suns Medical Center and there was his personal Revenge every baby born in a hospital was revenge and then we had set up a a group in Baltimore to help raise funds for this hospital that was my help for the re repayment thing thank you anybody want questions one anyone has questions can you tell us any the other things that you saw in terms of observance of Gish kite in the camps Ser you saw any particular other examples that saw biggest thing was misel was put together Camp us voice it was also there a mish from gly was kep encouraging the boys when he saw a kid wandering around that's CU BR us so kept kept us up kept us going story the um misel uh was blowing shauer as I heard the story was court in front of the camp Camp there was a u big water Gathering like a like a small lake so he got punished thrown into the lake and he came out he said M did you maintain your uh relation with h in your later in your year that you were in Baltimore did you did you maintain your friendship with the closenberg or yeah yeah stay with closenberg about to Williamsburg once in a while and Union City mostly there's a book that came out to I think it's worthwhile to read the I want to read that book whatever you mentioned tonight is all in the book as well um it was grained in from 3 years on on that I said my parents and grandparents both sides father and mother all rabbis allor I'm famous in Hungary and that's how we live we live the religion not just uh how many of the people that were interred in the camp were who came from from a family large uh very large number very large number from uh our village there were two or three people met in Camp I forgot to mention one story while in Camp in aitz uh one morning my father came along with the food delivery he noticed us he was happy to see the up her father for 2 three days we got our block got extra RS then we didn't see him again he died later at the labor camp when you said was thees yeah did you have a relationship with him after the war I met him once or twice Chicago yeah what what what role did he play in the camps the camp the chief Rabbi of the camp yeah no official he just encouraged kids he saw kids huh no no in in in in osit he saw kids wandering around he came over where you from what's your name he knew a grandparents you knew from did you know about the gas Chambers when you were there uh we knew but they made us not to know but they what they made Believe that we don't know but we knew and once I took a transport of kids away we knew where they were going and one time I somebody came to DP cam in culting later was there he saw one one truckload went with the kids they were singing it was sh sh singing on the way on the way you heard that I didn't hear the person but someone told me you were there and uh it's documented you the Germans document everything pictures they have tapes they have so I just read in the amadia recently someone wrote the German cameras saw the physical things they didn't see the spirituals they couldn't take away our Spiritual Living did you ever travel back no no intention did you think that people to the left people to the right to theas we knew they're not going to labor camp we didn't know exactly at the time the guest Chambers but later we found out about a month or two later they establish yide dates for the villages day there after us one any other family members your brother uh Uncle two uncles H yeah one was the cross the road where DP came with him then he came to Williamsburg we went there how often did new groups come down uh almost daily like between uh P mid July almost everyday groups game how did you as a 12y pretend you were 16 you couldn't tell your height no I was short but uh I was spoke flu in German and my strong telling him I'm 16 y a field AR biter so he looked and he touched my muscles and you approached them on a single line single line there go yeah can you tell us what you were thinking or feeling while you were standing I was thinking about this polish D told me you tell him that you could go to work and we knew that the others are not going to work so um did you know who he was yes polish the Polish had knowledge that they needed that type of work the Polish DW that told you he knew that they needed that at that time he knew yeah he knew H you mentioned the incident in the hospital leg you beaten him on a regular basis did I were you beaten physically uh once or twice when I couldn't cap up the carrying the uh poles I hit in the head once still have a mark by me being in I was lucky lucky on some of the others who had marched there was a big March from uh book W towards other areas where a lot of people died during the march what would you of dire to parents of today's generation like I say we have to keep up our faith follow footsteps of parents grandparents you I say the reason we say not call [Music] because we don't know what we want we sayem knows what we want we should have it all anybody that live through that that went through the part of Europe those years has the story might be something that is a unique in each one of us as you we all have something to tell you you all have something to say to begin with who am i b done that's that's what was told to me by my Rabbi we are not we are still human beings but nobody knows what and CH stuff is is waiting for them me I was born in L was a c City I was born in 1930 to family that was extremely religious as a matter of fact my grandfather was G you can see that I wanded away from the place but it's always very be [Music] back I was [Music] Bor a h wife that only had two children my and my brother I was 2 and 1/2 years younger than myself when the wall broke out I I was only 9 years old my brother on the other hand for 6 and a half we were born I was born in L now that in itself tells the story much was a very highly populated F ST which which are Germans had V that they live to a very tremendous all of those people there September of I'll be finished with this I'm getting exercise [Music] Mar toland and the period of of two weeks cancered the whole [Music] country you not realize how big a country it is we know compar to the United States but it's very small country yet the problem that I remember as a kid the airplanes that the said when the all broke out they they had disassembled to to SLE of cing I don't know how you could C B that way eventually uh as time was gr out we saw a ghetto being constructed here all the little towns from around the L area they they they all wanted to to J something is that jumping out High into the P effect the little towns that were around L had very great population ofs the populations estimate before the war just about one time was almost 50% Jewish half a million a quter quarter and a matter of just away feeling of what was and woman was very much dominated by Jewish religion by love [Music] with his father was that whole family was and so on after a little while deci there was no no no way to get out of it so he trans met my mother grandmother and [Music] grandfather and as much as they could put on a wagon [Music] and kids that jumping and calling and coming my D was very very eventually we took for 180 miles of to a little town and kid and all all those are and they and we W up in a little town of love forun with my parents that's when my father was born mind you the population in that little town was 4,000 75% was [Music] Jewish they felt like we were home I visited it 10 years ago the Sho that was there is gone the make that was there nobody even knew that they had a m except little guys like me because we we used to play around the MF and so [Music] on and that was 19 by this time we are in double digits 41 we were still without the ghetto window little pound but the Germans did not want to hear them they were going to get it and we're going to have it get on me now after a little [Music] while sure enough one morning around October of [Music] 441 the Germans SED on the on the windows for for all the houses and by our house most of the houses had Shadows so they were banging on the Shadows all the Jews have to come out to the center of town they bring a little with them they only going for a resettling program the resettling was not a happy time or it was it meant for another another couple hours of Freedom my dad for some reason rather knew knew knew something that was coming and him and two neighbors they I they take a sh a shelter they built it in one part of the house because the houses floor did not have any floors so you could dig at night when everybody was sleeping the men folks would go and take that take that hiding place the place must have been about 10t long 4T wide and about 5T [Music] high they manag to have five 10 wom rather and 10 children no male was allowed to go in there and my my parents household was my mother my brother myself and one of my grandmothers I went into a hiding place that Hiding Place everybody sat around on benches two benches were in there it was fine for about 2 days now we started out water s another food how do we get this stuff on here well we had the chap boys my brother Myself by this time I was 11 years old and he was 9 and a half and and we would go out go down to the river with two buckets and come back with two buckets of water each we up muscles like like you never believe 3 days 4 days 5 days now food was start be very very very hard again the bakery which was mostly nonexistent [Music] they we we used to go down to the bakery early in the morning the before they even opened up with knock on the door that the the baker who happened to be imp polish knew was very very well my my grandparents and parents had a very important part of that little town the this Slaughter ring of animals was part of my grandmother's F property they they also had nonosa which was another section of of the town for SP non ction animals how I remained and how I remembers all the things it amazes me sometimes it took many years before I could even start talking about it and if the ones I did talk about they would say what kind of Banes do you make up once twice three times by the by the four time you were beaten horse you you weren't going to do anything anymore so we left it hanging till 86 85 86 we start started finding out that people will start talking or people like Ellie wiel who was with me in France and and and I see him from time to time actually we can't afford him when you're in here they has to be practical and things ran on eventually after two weeks in the in that whole the ground it wased by all the women that we're going to get out and we're going to free ourselves out from this place sure enough we came out and I said I I I know a place in the river where we could walk across I used I used to go swimming Tred swim over there but it was too shallow for swimming let's go down down to the river go across the river and hide in in the bushes and then and then at night we could go wherever we want to go on the night at the at the same time that was a a week of B full moon and we could walk at night and alongside the r we came walking out out of the out of the hiding place about 5:00 in the morning it was still Moon time and when I when I made the statement I I said if you don't want to go I'm going to go myself myself all they saw that that was a very very stubborn little guy I said well maybe he does have right my grandmother said okay I'll fight father two my mother said I have no chance are you two out of four my brother didn't know anything he said just take me in for two mon thinks I'll I'll I'll I'll walk and then I'll do anything you want me to do uh we we walk down to the river we crossed it the the water was kind of shimy and we going that cross and I says you know what better let's walk around the edge of the wall of of the water they looked at me I says don't look at me this is how we're going to how we're going to stop him from walking down with dogs and sure enough they came down with dogs about 2 hours later couldn't find us and what happened we stayed out there at night we took off for a little town 20 kilm away well we still had Jewish people that that were not g gone away and uh what happened while they took the whole little town the Jewish population of the whole little town and they took him to a station whe it was car or they fill them into the into the car but some of it was told to us and some we find out afterwards and we knew that that the Germans left 50 people 50 Jews and a little ghetto open ghetto what they call and we we took advantage by in the in the morning after March and night to to right next to the to the this we got at a little town there was a everybody in that area was intermarried as a matter of fact myself I married a French girl now I say French girl she was born in France but her father was a very Rel her father and grand her father was achievable her grandfather was a very Pious man and she herself was not to not not that as religious as mostly people here but she is a religious woman and that's how the whole population was in that area that whole area was was was very much taken by Jews andway we stay Stayed in the cousin's house there was a bunch of relatives we had in that little town we didn't sleep all night so we went to sleep and after about three to 4 days of being in that little town we got a Waring at night that the Germans are surrounding the town they're going to re they're going to resettle these people now what happened and good job could you could you share with me your job uh anyway now my grandmother said this is the L this is as far as I went whatever happens to all my cousins over here it was happen to me that was the last time I saw her I saw my dead gone and my grandmother is gone just my mother and my my my brother myself we walked in to that little ghetto town that we had left a week ago and there was a notice for all the Jews that ran away we give him we allow him to come back to the kids so how much better do you want we we we went and found a little bu building and my mother was was very happy that way my job was to to get [Music] bread butter cheese whatever the farmers did not have much but we to us we had even had less my grandmother had some land that the they they gave it out to a Polish fell and he paid them so much every year for for for allowing to use that to to use the the land the farm land at the head also they she had cows she had horses uh eventually we had make good contact and I would go to the farmers I would pick up the nourishments and bring it back this one day I had a promise by a farmer that he says we are taken the bread and I remember was Wednesday or Thursday or sometime some day in middle of the week and whatever it is you pay me for it and at least we had we had the F on a way back I I I picked up i a bread a bread I want you to know is something the size of a Volks Megan T Volkswagen Tire weighing about 10 kilos little guy like me just threw it his sack over my shoulder and I'm off I'm walking back I'm whistling I'm singing to myself mom is going to be so happy to see me with all the bread when I came walking in I found my brother in tears said what a matter oh the truck came down a truck came down from Kel sasac I said which is an ammunition Factory and they needed workers my mother at that time was only about 30 years old good looking and and and and strong and I helped my brother cry a little bit but I saw there was no no way that we could cure that we have to think about ourselves now and sure enough like a about after the trucks left they know this was given to the inhabitants of of the ghetto we want to see the four boys which was my my brother two other boys that hooked up with us and myself now we we're going on hiding we can't show our head at night we were we were sleeping in in vs and all name it house all abandoned houses because all those Jewish people that left so so things we were kind of afraid to to go into the houses the the places that we like most is was something that you away from everything at night we would we would go to sleep one was always under duty every two hours we would change around another boy for 2 hours it's not to that somebody is going to catch us it was we are afraid and that was my nice doing we were afraid that we shouldn't freeze to death so we would walking back and forth for one for 2 hours 2 hours later we wake everybody up walk around for 15 minutes and back to sleep you go the best one was Stables God they were wonderful I said you what do you mean what's so wonderful about a horse a cow or chicken or you cuddle up to one of those animals and you get some of the body heat and when you fall asleep anyway we we go through for about two months like that we we got we got a know this because we kept contact we got some food from the G ghetto and so I we get noticed that they open up the ghetto again they bring in some fresh blood and we did it very very very nicely but when we came walking in we didn't have where to stay and then when we finally we did we had a little pot belly stove we loaded it up with wood and coal and get it red and hot went down to the river got some water and we boiled the water got under rest because it was little animals creep on our bodies I have not seen anything like that in my life and as long as I've been living in the United States I haven't seen that many little animals that creeped around our body we took our clothing we boiled it in that water got took it out and got the other half a body uncovered covered the new floor new stuff and off we off we go we are now wonderful human being uh one day about we the truck came around again gave us a notice that Mom is a is in K it's she's in the ammunition Factory and she is settled over there she wants for us to go to the same room to see [Music] her we did uh this time we couldn't get anymore on the truck the truck was full he says I'll be back tomorrow we still need some more people they came back they came back to from more Che people they got me they promised me that they're going to bring bring my brother with another boy one little boy came with me and now he said oh I'm going to see Mom again pulled in with the trucks jumped down off the truck and one of the inmates came up to me he says you were chapnick I said yes oh this morning they took her out and a few more women to another Factory well that just blew the wind out of my sale at my room I was a bunk uh you now trying to by by by myself I don't have my brother I don't have my mother my dad is gone my in-laws my my aunts and uncles and cousins and and God knows what they all gone what do we do went to work there were three more boys like that and we kind of shared our Lord eventually we hear that the Russians are approaching we also hear that the ghetto was liquidated and we're waiting for M waiting for somebody to to get us [Music] out nobody can everybody had his own little bundle of of problems eventually I I was very handy I became a foreman over Machinery here I was 12 years old or 12 and a half or something like that and I'm I'm directing Six Women they would feed the machines I would repair the machines whenever would they needed I didn't do that all by myself I want you to know that whatever you do in life there was somebody help you if it's not a human flesh it's a guy there is always that help coming we could never accomplish anything without some [Music] help eventually one day they came with a bunch of trucks and they moved us to another place and another place and another place we now in chance the H change the H was is very important place we had and with we have all kind of things that face the Lo but we have no idea where with which way is going and the four and the 5th of January 1945 we get the order I could sit here on night tell you stories and which should which are very very real but time time is my wife is going to kill me defin can foring and you uh we traveling to Germany the first step was outtz when we pulled it by outs there was a sign G which means it's Clos and there's one one little thing now we we got to go back into the way into the ra cars where cars with we take be taken we don't know where after 15 days or 14 or 15 days something like that we were and they we pulled in into a sing and everybody had to get out and we start walking in two in TOS we are walking into the camp and we get really close we see a big sign B well we have heard something about it but we didn't know what it was now we Mar and into the camp and there's another sign on on the [Music] gate everybody gets their [Music] own now we come in to a place to a room about one and a half times big is this room and we have orders to get and for Andress completely put the clothing in very nice little bundles don't mix them up and you feel they they really something but the next before you go any further you get there's a vat over there a big vat of Chlor water and you have to walk in it and get covered for the from head to tall and you say well I cheat him a little bit I won't let him get get ahe of me so if you did that there were two German soldiers standing on either side of the bat with a butt of a rifle that would push you under that now you come out of that rat and you're burning like hell and we trying to get some water and you cannot you're afraid that those little vows up there might be spewing or and and bad bad stuff but that happens till somebody decides they're going to pull the chain pull the chain nothing St it's it's water coming out everybody running for the showers now you clean off and you get and you get and you get going for it around we walk into a room about the other side of this room with a can C and the handing out clothing but before you get the clothing you take a look at two black fellas what do they do away here and not only that they speak different language I can't understand them here I am I know five languages don't know don't know anything about that [Music] one come to find out later that they were American Negroes there there was 10 Americans in B World B world had 39 nationalities to make this very short after being and that concentration came from first of all the first two nights two weeks later we was shed into a bnk 10t by by by 4 foot into that little spot they they they were AEL to they were able to squash 16 people and if he want to turn turn over at night from one side to the other side you to wake up all three for 16 people and you wake up in the morning during the night and there's one guy doesn't move only grabs one leg another another leg another out of the bunk to go and that's it here I felt that I was already pushed to the brink when two weeks later I get a call now this was black 66 we going to be being transfered to the children's block that was the biggest thing that they ever happened to me they they shs up and and on the ground and a little German that was also a a that live that was a a he was let's see I can't think of I was trying to think of his name but Willie was his name will he says he says I'm I'm I'm as bad as you are except that I have privileges you don't he was a German uh whatever you call it anyway he says over here you not any more Jewish that's a religion you you you're going to wear your Star of David are you going to take it off over here nobody nobody is being he really made order and when six four months later when they came walking in the jss came walking in and said we got we have to take all the Jewish boys out of here he says why do you see Jewish boys and we don't have no Jewish boys we got po we got hungarians we got checks we got what no Jewish boys no they were away of course 3 Days Later half of those people that went on the March and were dead 3 Days Later was the 11th of April April 11th was the day of Liberation for us liberated by pant night night the third Army eventually something happened to me 3 weeks after being out out of out of out of out of the camp I get deadly sick I get me me had that happened three weeks four weeks before that I wouldn't have been here talking to you this is hanging around there till oh incidentally I got to tell you this little story this is something that you really Joy there was a little boy in L Bar and bar we called him L Lake you call the chief Rabbi of Israel and he he he met matched right in with the guys he was 8 years old his brother was 16 and they taught him how to play chess checks chest what do what do you think this little Sinker does he be P every Russian that was in the camp and chest two weeks later playing two three boards at the same time this this was n anyway uh on the 5th of June we were we went 427 of us what friend would ENT up France there's another Rabbi that helped us that to RAB his son is now a rabbi in the Bronx now you get something to look [Music] up and we he at that time was 80 years old he was he had a lot of people for voting for him in and friends but he went to Israel and went to went to put the things in and that was it different him and other person that was with us [Music] was he showed up when I when I was we couple more boys came to visit them when he came came to the United States in 1950 anyway then I we shall I shall meet you at the S Junction and when we have some more time I would like to fle sh off thank you very much for oh