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IV: The interview that you did in Oederan is mostly about Oederan. 

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HM: Yes.

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IV: That time. And now I am interested in learning about the time before that.  

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Before that you were in Theresienstadt. 

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HM: Yes.

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IV: Could you speak about Theresienstadt. 

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And how you came from Theresienstadt to Oederan and why. 

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HM. Yes. 

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So we came to Theresienstadt in '42, on one of the last transports that went from Czechoslovakia to Theresienstadt I believe. 

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I was with my mother and we came to...it was very cold then. 

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We were only allowed to bring 50 kilos with us and...

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We traveled in open...in passenger trains.

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But it was totally covered in ice because it was very cold. 

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And then we arrived in Theresienstadt. 

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In Theresienstadt they sent me to a room. 

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Before that I had been in Prague, with children...with young people...in..what that's called...youth alijah groups. 

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And they sent me to a room with girls, most of them had been in this youth alijah group.  

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My mother was sent to another room. 

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What Theresienstadt was like...I don't know, should I speak about Theresienstadt, how it...

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IV: Yes, speak about how it was for you. 

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What your life was like there and your everyday life. 

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HM: Yes. 

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It was so:

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We were...we were...I don't know whether you know all of this already, but we were...

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We were in a normal apartment. 

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We lived in a normal three-room apartment. 

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And in each room there were around 20, 25 girls on three-level beds. 

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And everyone just had a bed, and that was all one had. 

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And when I think about it, that was a normal...a normal apartment...

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And some 70 or more people lived there. 

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And sometimes I think...I can't remember. 

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How did we wash ourselves at the one sink when we had to go to work in the early morning?

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Or how... how did we go to the toilet?

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There was only one toilet in this apartment, only one sink. 

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And when I got there, there were an awful lot of bugs. 

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And when I...the first thing I saw when I entered the room was a girl. 

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She had just gotten undressed. 

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And she was totally red from bug bites. 

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And I thought, why isn't she ashamed to be so bitten by bugs and show it.

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And a week later I was exactly the same. 

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And then they did something, a disinfection. 

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After that it was a little bit better with the bugs. 

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And we girls actually lived pretty well together 

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I think the good thing about Theresienstadt was there was no stealing.  

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And everyone helped each other. 

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And with the clothes we had... we all wore each others' clothes. 

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And we were all pretty good friends. 

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And despite everything bad that was there...it was pleasant to live with these girls. 

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Because there wasn't... nobody screaming at each other and no scuffling, nothing.

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It was always good. 

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And...my mother unfortunately lived very badly. 

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And then I arranged for her to go to a different, a better room. 

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And that was typical of Theresienstadt. 

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That the children took care of the mothers. 

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Because we took it more lightly than...

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My mother was actually still pretty young. 

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Looking back today, she was for her 42 years, she was still a young woman. 

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But still she found it difficult. 

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She was not really able to accept that she was in a camp and all that. 

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And lying on the ground. 

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And then I took care of her. 

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And I began to work right away. 

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I worked in the children's home. 

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First with children, small children, four and five year olds. 

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They also had a large room with two-level beds. 

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And later I was with youngsters, ten-year-old boys. 

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And then at that end I worked...for a while when the Red Cross came, a clean-up action was done. 

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I also worked there as a cleaner, for the sick people, where I cleaned everything. 

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And then at the end I worked with 16-year-old boys.

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And they were all very clever and I was a bit...

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I looked after them there. 

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And I always had the feeling that I was just one hour ahead...

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Learning was forbidden, or how was it called... teaching, learning. 

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But they had classes anyway and I always had the impression that I was only an hour ahead of them. 

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Because they all knew so much and they were very very clever and very educated. 

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And in Theresienstadt there was a lot of cultural life. 

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And that was also very interesting because I could...

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I came from a .. small town.

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And in Theresienstadt I actually learned more about culture than...in this town. 

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Because there the major...for examples concerts were held there.  

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...such important names and people who played music well. 

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In Strakonice that was not so. 

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And so I learned a lot about music there. 

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And there were cabarets and theater and everything. 

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So I had more culture there than I had in ..

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IV. in your town.

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Hm. Yes, yes, as in a town. 

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But of course Theresienstadt was not only culture. 

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Theresienstadt was also food and Theresienstadt was also old people. 

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And it was actually...Theresienstadt was self-administration. 

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The Germans almost never came there. 

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I think because of the....because they were afraid of the diseases. 

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So there was this administration. 

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And the administration thought there should be more to eat. There was only a little food for everyone. 

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But the administration thought the children should be given a little more food. 

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Because they were our future. 

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Back then they didn't know that almost none of the children would survive. 

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But the children were given a little more to eat. 

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And for the older people, that was a catastrophe. 

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That was terrible because they had very, very little. 

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And they always went and begged, that someone should give them a little soup. 

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And they were truly so ill... they looked terrible. 

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And there were so many....so many every day 50 people. 

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IV: from exhaustion or hunger. 

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HM: From...hunger

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From exhaustion and from hunger and other illnesses. 

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There were many different illnesses, Enzephalitis and Typhus and so.

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And there was... grownup people got children's diseases, measles and things. 

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They died from that too. 

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But mostly from hunger, mostly they were so starved, these...

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especially the old ...all the people were starved but the old people much more than the others. 

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Because those who worked got a little more. 

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And for the children, as I said, one tried the best...

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For the chilldren, they always tried to do the best. 

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And well, that is how it was in Theresienstadt. 

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IV: What did your mother do at that time? Did she work too?

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HM: My...yes. My mother worked too. 

118
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She sewed something for the Germans. 

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I think it was...probably for the army. 

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She made gloves and various things. 

121
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It was a sewing room, where they only worked for the Germans. 

122
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And that is where she worked.

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And that is how we lived.

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Bad, but also a bit normal. 

125
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Because we still had our clothes. 

126
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And then they..the..and there were always transports. 

127
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And we were always very afraid of the transports because you never knew...that is you didn't know where you would be sent. 

128
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But one always knew in a way that, that it would be worse than Theresienstadt. 

129
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I don't know why but everyone had...no one was...everyone wanted to stay in Theresienstadt and not to go. 

130
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And how they selected people for the transport, I don't know. 

131
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And then in '44, that is when the very large transports came.

132
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They probably wanted to empty the ghetto. 

133
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And my mother left on a transport. 

134
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And I wanted..I volunteered to go with her. 

135
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I was supposed to go with her. 

136
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But they didn't allow me. 

137
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And then a week later, I went too. 

138
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Actually I wasn't supposed to be on a transport. 

139
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Because my father was not a Jew. 

140
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And they didn't ...uh..the half-Jewish children were not so...were probably... 

141
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And this was one of those selections.

142
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I remember that we were so...many people standing there and I joined them...

143
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I went... an SS man stood there and he asked me. 

144
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"Do you have a child?"

145
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And I said: "no."

146
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And he said: "Then you are not in the transport."

147
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And then it turned out that a woman was there with the same name as me, and she had a young child.

148
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I didn't learn that until after the war...someone told me that. 

149
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And this woman went to someone who was putting together the transport. 

150
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And she prayed there and fell to her knees and pleaded with him not to send her with the child. 

151
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And then they found out that there was someone else with the same name there. 

152
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And then they sent me. 

153
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Actually during the transport... during the transport...when I was there, it was a...someone from...

154
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Murmelstein was the Jewish eldest at the time and he had a man who worked with him. 

155
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And I saw him at the...in front of the train. 

156
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And I said: "Listen, I am not supposed...I am not supposed to be on the transport."

157
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And I said: "Tell, tell the SS man, they should take me off the transport."

158
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And he wanted to, but in the end he went to the SS man and told him that I was at the selection and they took me out. 

159
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And he said to me, the German said to me: "Yes, you are right.

160
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But an additional wagon had come.  

161
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And I have to fill up the wagon. 

162
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Get in." 

163
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So then I climbed into the wagon.

164
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And then suddenly my friend appeared. 

165
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Her parents were on the same transport. 

166
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And she wanted to go with her parents and they didn't let her. 

167
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And then, because they were looking for more people to fill the wagon, they let her go. 

168
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And that basically saved my life. 

169
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Because we were in the last wagon and then we drove to Auschwitz. 

170
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How that was, I can't remember very much about this trip. 

171
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just that we...that we couldn't move because there were so many people in it. 

172
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So much luggage. 

173
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And they gave us to buckets. 

174
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One for the..one with water, drinking water, and one for the toilet. 

175
00:13:47,333 --> 00:13:52,066
And at first no one went to the toilet, but then someone did. 

176
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And the Instettel, he didn't go in the toilet bucket, he went in the bucket with the water. 

177
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So we didn't have any drinking water the entire time. 

178
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There was a Wehmacht man with us in the wagon. 

179
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And he... he probably felt sorry for us and somehow it was explained and he emptied the bucket and brought us new drinking water.  

180
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So I know there was drinking water but how long it lasted and all that I don't know.

181
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And then we were in Auschwitz, arrived in Auschwitz. 

182
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And my..and uh "leave all the luggage in the, in the ...leave it and move forward." 

183
00:14:42,133 --> 00:14:46,632
And my friend, whose mother was is the first wagon, said: 

184
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"Come! Let's got quickly to the front.

185
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Maybe we'll find my parents there." 

186
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And we ran quickly to the front and we were at the very beginning. 

187
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And were were a transport with ...1,750 people. 

188
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And 200 girls and 50 men were sent to the left side and the rest were sent to the right side. 

189
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And the ones on the right side went to the gas. 

190
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And 50 men were left but as far as I know, from the 50 men only one survived. 

191
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And we were 200 women. 

192
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Then we went into a barrack the way it was there. 

193
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We had to take off our clothes. 

194
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our heads were shaved and we were naked. 

195
00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:43,399
And men came and took away our hair. 

196
00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:51,599
But it was... we were so tired from the journey and from the hunger and from everything that...I don't know...were very...

197
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And the older prisoners there, they said the entire rest of the transport went to the gas. 

198
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And I think we didn't really know what that was. 

199
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Because it was hard to believe that all the other people weren't...

200
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And then they said: "Look. They...are burning in this crematorium or something like that. 

201
00:16:18,733 --> 00:16:21,432
All those other people aren't alive." 

202
00:16:21,433 --> 00:16:25,132
We were not in Auschwitz for very long. 

203
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Because we were the second to last transport that went to Auschwitz. 

204
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They didn't give us any numbers or anything. 

205
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And they told us we were going to Germany to work. 

206
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And then we went through various selections. 

207
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And I don't know how it looked in Auschwitz, probably other people have already told you that so I don't need to say anything about it. 

208
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And well, we went through various selections. 

209
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And then we... they said, we are going...we are going to Germany to work. 

210
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And then the older girls who were there already, the older prisoners who were there said: 

211
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"You are going to a track.

212
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When the train is there, then you are traveling to Germany.

213
00:17:14,433 --> 00:17:18,166
If no train is there, then you are going to the gas.

214
00:17:18,167 --> 00:17:22,066
And we arrived at the track and there was no train there. 

215
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And they sent us into some place and said: "you have to..."

216
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In Auschwitz they always had uh...one always had to shower. 

217
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And they said to us: "Go take a shower."

218
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I don't know, I always thought that it is not gas and that it, well, that we would leave. 

219
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And they had us shower and then we stood for roll call again. 

220
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And that was terrible, it was raining and was cold. 

221
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It was winter by then. 

222
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And we didn't have any stockings and we only had a light...everyone just had what they had when they...

223
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One girl had ballet shoes and the others...I, for one, was lucky. 

224
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I had...I had gotten slippers from some grandfather, so they were at least warm shoes.  

225
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But we didn't have any stockings and only light clothing with short sleeves and a short jacket over it. 

226
00:18:20,733 --> 00:18:29,199
And then we had.. from the jacket, that.. what is it called... what is inside the sleeves, the...

227
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IV: Lining. 

228
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HM: Then we had the lining, then someone began and we all began to take out the lining from the sleeves and put it on our feet. 

229
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So that we were a little warmer. 

230
00:18:41,167 --> 00:18:45,099
And then we waited and waited and a train arrived. 

231
00:18:45,100 --> 00:18:47,732
And we got on the train. 

232
00:18:47,733 --> 00:19:00,966
 About the trip from Auschwitz to Oederan... it must have been very bad because I don't remember anything about it. 

233
00:19:00,967 --> 00:19:04,966
And then we arrived in Oederan. 

234
00:19:04,967 --> 00:19:18,799
And my first impression was that.. I left the wagon and there was light and I saw the other girls, the ones who came out of the other wagons. 

235
00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:22,366
I said: "Oh, those poor girls. Where did they come from?"

236
00:19:22,367 --> 00:19:26,232
And then I remembered that I looked exactly like these girls. 

237
00:19:26,233 --> 00:19:30,232
And then they took us into a factory. 

238
00:19:30,233 --> 00:19:33,566
Not in the factory, but rather where we lived. 

239
00:19:33,567 --> 00:19:36,332
And they gave us a soup. 

240
00:19:36,333 --> 00:19:42,599
And then we...we uh...laid down on the bunk. 

241
00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:50,399
We had three-level beds. 

242
00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:59,566
And we got a blanket and we were very happy that we had gotten away from Auschwitz. 

243
00:19:59,567 --> 00:20:10,199
And then we didn't work for the first three weeks in Oederan because there was no material to work with. 

244
00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:13,999
And we were not allowed to leave the beds. 

245
00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:24,499
And on the one hand, that was bad, but on the other...it helped us a lot that we could rest for three weeks. 

246
00:20:24,500 --> 00:20:25,732
IV: You regained your strength. 

247
00:20:25,733 --> 00:20:29,832
HM: Yes, we regained our strength a bit. 

248
00:20:29,833 --> 00:20:34,666
And then they sent us to work. 

249
00:20:34,667 --> 00:20:42,066
I worked at first as a cleaner for the overseers. 

250
00:20:42,067 --> 00:20:43,799
That was until Christmas. 

251
00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:51,732
After Christmas until January me and my friends, my two friends, they also worked there as cleaners. 

252
00:20:51,733 --> 00:20:56,599
And that was not bad because our head overseer was not there. 

253
00:20:56,600 --> 00:21:04,332
And the overseer who was there in her place was...a normal woman, from the area. 

254
00:21:04,333 --> 00:21:08,266
She had six children and she worked there. 

255
00:21:08,267 --> 00:21:15,832
She was not bad and she told us to sit down and sew something for her or knit something. 

256
00:21:15,833 --> 00:21:25,099
She took it easy but we had it good too because we were sitting in a warm room, 

257
00:21:25,100 --> 00:21:28,999
and then the head overseer came and that changed. 

258
00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:30,866
She forbid them that. 

259
00:21:30,867 --> 00:21:34,499
She said: "If you need something sewn, then sew it yourself

260
00:21:34,500 --> 00:21:38,266
The prisoners are not here to do that. They have to work."

261
00:21:38,267 --> 00:21:43,032
And then she threw us out of the fac...out of there. 

262
00:21:43,033 --> 00:21:46,199
Because she didn't think we were working enough.

263
00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:49,266
And I worked in the factory too. 

264
00:21:49,267 --> 00:21:53,332
And that was hard because...we had three shifts. 

265
00:21:53,333 --> 00:21:57,832
And the night shift...and of course always standing for the roll call.

266
00:21:57,833 --> 00:22:01,366
That was a part of life, that we always had the roll call. 

267
00:22:01,367 --> 00:22:04,032
They counted us for hours. 

268
00:22:04,033 --> 00:22:10,766
And, then I had...these three shifts, the night shift was very hard. 

269
00:22:10,767 --> 00:22:15,166
And the work was hard too because we made some kind of cartridge. 

270
00:22:15,167 --> 00:22:17,132
And it was iron on iron. 

271
00:22:17,133 --> 00:22:24,766
We put holes into the cartridge for a ...a ring which was put...on the cartridge.

272
00:22:24,767 --> 00:22:34,932
And that was very hard, making this hole...because it was all made of iron, you had to do like that. And well...

273
00:22:34,933 --> 00:22:38,632
IV: I would like to jump over the time in Oederan. 

274
00:22:38,633 --> 00:22:38,832
HM: Yes. 

275
00:22:38,833 --> 00:22:40,232
Because you described...

276
00:22:40,233 --> 00:22:40,399
HM: Yes. 

277
00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:43,066
IV: this in great detail in that interview. 

278
00:22:43,067 --> 00:22:47,832
And now I would like to continue to what happened next.

279
00:22:47,833 --> 00:22:51,132
You went then from Oederan back to...

280
00:22:51,133 --> 00:22:52,366
HM: To Theresien...to Th...

281
00:22:52,367 --> 00:22:58,632
IV: Could you tell me how it ended in Oederan and how you came back...then what happened. 

282
00:22:58,633 --> 00:23:06,432
HM: Well, in Oederan, you could already hear the Russians and... then they decided to have us evacuated. 

283
00:23:06,433 --> 00:23:10,699
And, it was...there was no one to watch over us. 

284
00:23:10,700 --> 00:23:15,299
There were only these young boys watching us or very old men.  

285
00:23:15,300 --> 00:23:18,199
They brought us ...to the train. 

286
00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:20,032
And then we left.

287
00:23:20,033 --> 00:23:23,732
And the whole time there was hullabaloo.

288
00:23:23,733 --> 00:23:34,499
The trains didn't move, we drove a bit forward, a bit backwards and these low-flying planes were always firing at us. 

289
00:23:34,500 --> 00:23:39,199
Actually they didn't shoot at our train. 

290
00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:45,166
Maybe they saw us in the open wgon so  they didn't shoot at us. 

291
00:23:45,167 --> 00:23:55,666
But they fired at the trains on the tracks. 

292
00:23:55,667 --> 00:24:02,132
And I have a story here {laughs}.

293
00:24:02,133 --> 00:24:05,432
There was nothing to eat. 

294
00:24:05,433 --> 00:24:12,166
And the overseers said they already gave their money to buy food for us too. 

295
00:24:12,167 --> 00:24:14,332
And that they didn't have any money. 

296
00:24:14,333 --> 00:24:22,299
And on the train next to us and they said that there were many wounded German soldiers on it. 

297
00:24:22,300 --> 00:24:28,532
And the head person was a high-level SS officer. 

298
00:24:28,533 --> 00:24:34,132
And he was with our overseer...and I was in the wagon that was closed.

299
00:24:34,133 --> 00:24:36,432
He was with the overseer. 

300
00:24:36,433 --> 00:24:45,832
Again...in one half were the overseers and in the other half... a few prisoners. 

301
00:24:45,833 --> 00:24:50,432
They cooked for the overseers and cleaned the wagon. 

302
00:24:50,433 --> 00:24:55,799
And I was with my friend in this wagon. 

303
00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:59,566
So I know a bit more than the others. 

304
00:24:59,567 --> 00:25:02,566
And then this SS man arrived. 

305
00:25:02,567 --> 00:25:09,532
He spoke to our overseer and she told him she didn't have anything to give the prisoners to eat. 

306
00:25:09,533 --> 00:25:13,566
And he said: "Give me two girls and I'll...

307
00:25:13,567 --> 00:25:21,666
We'll go to a village and I'll use my money to buy..."

308
00:25:21,667 --> 00:25:25,166
What he bought was sugar beet. 

309
00:25:25,167 --> 00:25:31,899
So try it, if you want to know something bad, you should try eating an uncooked sugar beet. 

310
00:25:31,900 --> 00:25:36,899
It is almost impossible to eat but actually it was good for our transport. 

311
00:25:36,900 --> 00:25:41,832
I don't know, he came, he brought a cart. 

312
00:25:41,833 --> 00:25:44,432
My friend and I pulled it. 

313
00:25:44,433 --> 00:25:49,432
And there were two overseers with us and we went to the village. 

314
00:25:49,433 --> 00:25:57,899
And he bought these sacks with the sugar beet and put them on the cart.

315
00:25:57,900 --> 00:26:07,199
And he left again and came back with bread and salami. 

316
00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:13,399
And he gave me and my friend a piece of bread with salami. 

317
00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:16,666
And then our overseer went...and I ate a bit. 

318
00:26:16,667 --> 00:26:22,366
And then an overseer appeared and she grabbed it out of my hand and ate it. 

319
00:26:22,367 --> 00:26:24,666
Because they were probably hungry too. 

320
00:26:24,667 --> 00:26:28,232
They were traveling a long time too without anything to eat. 

321
00:26:28,233 --> 00:26:30,599
And he...he saw this. 

322
00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:31,432
He didn't say anything. 

323
00:26:31,433 --> 00:26:34,366
And then he said: "Come. Let's get something to drink." 

324
00:26:34,367 --> 00:26:37,999
And we went into a guesthouse and there was a large...

325
00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:39,766
I remember it well. 

326
00:26:39,767 --> 00:26:49,932
It was a long table, and we sat down, two prisoners in the middle, an overseer on each side and the man sitting across from us. 

327
00:26:49,933 --> 00:26:52,932
And we drank a beer together. 

328
00:26:52,933 --> 00:27:01,299
And that was when I knew that the war was over and that we had managed to survive. 

329
00:27:01,300 --> 00:27:04,632
And then we went back to the train. 

330
00:27:04,633 --> 00:27:09,632
And then the girls gave us that beet. 

331
00:27:09,633 --> 00:27:14,566
And then we traveled south for about an hour.

332
00:27:14,567 --> 00:27:22,832
And a woman, the cook, the main cook who was with us, she knew this area, she was from Teplice, and she knew the area. 

333
00:27:22,833 --> 00:27:24,966
And she said something to the head overseer woman.

334
00:27:24,967 --> 00:27:28,099
And some of the overseers walked away. 

335
00:27:28,100 --> 00:27:31,832
And there was no one left to watch us. 

336
00:27:31,833 --> 00:27:35,532
But we couldn't walk away. 

337
00:27:35,533 --> 00:27:39,766
We could have, but we didn't want to because we didn't know where to go. 

338
00:27:39,767 --> 00:27:44,399
And she said, "Look, we are very close to Theresienstadt.

339
00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:46,632
Maybe they will take us in."

340
00:27:46,633 --> 00:27:51,999
And then the overseer, I don't know how but she drove to Theresienstadt.

341
00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:56,566
And they said, yes, she should bring us to Theresienstadt. 

342
00:27:56,567 --> 00:27:59,899
And the Red Cross was already in Theresienstadt. 

343
00:27:59,900 --> 00:28:07,999
And somehow...I don't know...where we were, but then we went by foot to Theresienstadt. 

344
00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:12,932
And when we got there we were one of the first transports. 

345
00:28:12,933 --> 00:28:19,432
And the people who had remained there, they formed a kind of column.

346
00:28:19,433 --> 00:28:25,299
And they knew that girls who had been in Theresienstadt had arrived. 

347
00:28:25,300 --> 00:28:30,599
A friend of mine was there, she took me home with her. 

348
00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:32,566
And some of the others. 

349
00:28:32,567 --> 00:28:42,732
And then we saw, when we saw the other transports, we knew that we had had it good in Oederan...

350
00:28:42,733 --> 00:28:48,566
It...we..in Oederan we had always thought that it was the worst that there was. 

351
00:28:48,567 --> 00:28:54,432
But in Theresienstadt we also saw that it could be even worse. 

352
00:28:54,433 --> 00:28:58,666
And these other transports were not let free. 

353
00:28:58,667 --> 00:29:02,532
They were locked in the barracks. 

354
00:29:02,533 --> 00:29:11,299
Because they were sick and they were all half dead and some were totally dead in these wagons. 

355
00:29:11,300 --> 00:29:21,299
And then in Theresienstadt...I was there until 8... I'm not sure exactly, I think we arrived in early May. 

356
00:29:21,300 --> 00:29:28,632
And by then we had heard on the radio in the Kommandantur that...I don't know who it was, not the Red Cross. 

357
00:29:28,633 --> 00:29:34,832
We heard radio there, in Prague they were still fighting. 

358
00:29:34,833 --> 00:29:38,699
And then we knew, that that was the end. 

359
00:29:38,700 --> 00:29:43,699
And then on May 8 the Russian Army arrived. 

360
00:29:43,700 --> 00:29:51,066
And they arrived and we were standing outside and there were these fences. 

361
00:29:51,067 --> 00:29:55,699
Once couldn't...and they came along the path and we stood behind the fence. 

362
00:29:55,700 --> 00:30:06,899
And then I...I don't remember, but my friend told me that I came to her in the room and I left her a note. 

363
00:30:06,900 --> 00:30:08,332
"We'll meet in Prague." 

364
00:30:08,333 --> 00:30:16,666
And then I went over the fence and got on a...Russian tank and left Theresienstadt. 

365
00:30:16,667 --> 00:30:22,299
And the tanks couldn't go all the way to Prague and I had to get off along the way. 

366
00:30:22,300 --> 00:30:26,666
And then I went part of the way in a Russian officer's car. 

367
00:30:26,667 --> 00:30:31,199
And then he couldn't go any further...they couldn't go to Prague either. 

368
00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:42,566
And then the last...I traveled on a truck to the beginning of Prague because the Russians weren't allowed to enter Prague then. 

369
00:30:42,567 --> 00:30:46,732
And then I walked to the old town. 

370
00:30:46,733 --> 00:30:53,699
There were already people there who...I was not the only one, many people had come there. 

371
00:30:53,700 --> 00:30:59,566
And they took care of us and the war was over. 

372
00:30:59,567 --> 00:31:02,766
IV: What did you feel at that moment?

373
00:31:02,767 --> 00:31:08,032
You were probably sick and exhausted and...

374
00:31:08,033 --> 00:31:13,999
HM: I don't know. I...I...think, one was very...

375
00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:18,166
You asked what I felt, I think I didn't feel anything. 

376
00:31:18,167 --> 00:31:27,232
Because I remember, I don't know, if you know Prague, there is this Letná, Letná Park, it is on this mountain. 

377
00:31:27,233 --> 00:31:29,366
And you go down it.

378
00:31:29,367 --> 00:31:33,232
And I was there, I went down the mountain across a river. 

379
00:31:33,233 --> 00:31:40,332
And there were German soldiers there that had been taken captive. 

380
00:31:40,333 --> 00:31:42,999
And one of them couldn't walk anymore, he had fallen down.

381
00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:47,799
And a man shot him in the head and everything came out. 

382
00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:56,166
And I walked by, I wasn't...I think if I would see something like that today, I would faint. 

383
00:31:56,167 --> 00:32:05,666
But at that time one was so used to...I don't know how to say it but...it didn't bother me. 

384
00:32:05,667 --> 00:32:13,332
I just wanted to go and survive and I...sleep somewhere and eat a little and..

385
00:32:13,333 --> 00:32:15,599
And then they gave me an apartment. 

386
00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:19,899
And a little money to...

387
00:32:19,900 --> 00:32:24,666
And then I was in Prague, there weren't any trains in the Czech Republic either. 

388
00:32:24,667 --> 00:32:34,232
And when trains started running again, I went to Strakonice where my father was. 

389
00:32:34,233 --> 00:32:36,166
I came to him there.

390
00:32:36,167 --> 00:32:45,132
And I should have gone into the Quinta there, back then I had had to leave school in the fifth grade.

391
00:32:45,133 --> 00:32:50,499
And my class was already taking their final exams and I was given a booklet. 

392
00:32:50,500 --> 00:32:59,032
And I read that the class that just took its exams still had 10 or 15 people who were like me...

393
00:32:59,033 --> 00:33:08,099
They were Czechs who had been in ca---had worked somewhere in Germany or I don't know.

394
00:33:08,100 --> 00:33:10,166
Had been in prison or something. 

395
00:33:10,167 --> 00:33:18,099
And they put the ten of us in this class that had taken their exams. 

396
00:33:18,100 --> 00:33:23,399
And we had to take the exams. 

397
00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:26,432
But of course we didn't know anything. 

398
00:33:26,433 --> 00:33:29,833
We promised that..