1
00:00:00,033 --> 00:00:06,966
SB: - from the edge of the chair, you know.

2
00:00:06,967 --> 00:00:11,132
IV. So we can continue.

3
00:00:11,133 --> 00:00:15,666
So he was the one, the tailor. He was the tailor.

4
00:00:15,667 --> 00:00:18,899
SB: He was my father's tailor, not our.

5
00:00:18,900 --> 00:00:23,999
My father called us, my brother and myself.

6
00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:28,599
He said, I think you're old enough to have your suits made by my tailor.

7
00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:35,766
You come here on wednesday afternoon, he will be here.

8
00:00:35,767 --> 00:00:40,432
He came and measured us but I didn't recognize him. He made our suits.

9
00:00:40,433 --> 00:00:52,599
And he said to me, I'm a Kapo. It's not a good Kommando. We were preparing the roads in the winter.

10
00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:57,999
If you come to work for me, he said, you won't have to work. But, so.

11
00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:03,999
By this time, I had, you know, and after eat, I was stronger.

12
00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:13,399
I didn't get any more food from Finckelstein because at 12 o'clock I was already working.

13
00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:15,366
You see, he was in the camp.

14
00:01:15,367 --> 00:01:22,866
And in the evening I was getting the food from, from my barrack.

15
00:01:22,867 --> 00:01:35,966
So this tailor said to me, I would - you know, "If you come to work for me, but you will have to move to my barrack."

16
00:01:35,967 --> 00:01:40,999
Which I didn't feel, I was already settled there, you know, I had enough food.

17
00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:47,766
So he said to me, every saturday, I bring you a bowl of soup. Which he did.

18
00:01:47,767 --> 00:01:50,132
A Kapo! Unbelievable!

19
00:01:50,133 --> 00:01:59,266
But something he said to me, he said to me "I was your father's tailor, my wife was a Benedikt."

20
00:01:59,267 --> 00:02:05,932
I didn't take much notice, but I will tell you, as we go.

21
00:02:05,933 --> 00:02:17,966
So, in the barrack where I was sleeping there was a, a Stubendienst, a Greek, a young chap.

22
00:02:17,967 --> 00:02:21,166
He was like an Albino. Very strict.

23
00:02:21,167 --> 00:02:28,166
He once slapped my face because I wouldn't listen. He asked me to take out the bucket at night.

24
00:02:28,167 --> 00:02:36,332
You know, when the bucket was full whoever came had to take it out, went out in the winter, you know.

25
00:02:36,333 --> 00:02:38,132
Anyway, he slapped my face.

26
00:02:38,133 --> 00:02:46,866
And once every few months it was an exchange of shoes. We were wearing the wooden clogs.

27
00:02:46,867 --> 00:02:49,232
It was rubbing, you know, it was..

28
00:02:49,233 --> 00:02:54,432
Anyway, when the shoes, I found a leather, one leather shoe.

29
00:02:54,433 --> 00:02:58,866
I looked through. I found the other leather shoe!

30
00:02:58,867 --> 00:03:02,466
I know it was only one you could exchange.

31
00:03:02,467 --> 00:03:10,399
But I tried. I said them, look I found the two leather shoes.

32
00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:15,932
Obviousely no one, because I have a very small foot.

33
00:03:15,933 --> 00:03:21,099
I have a very small foot. Can I please have them?

34
00:03:21,100 --> 00:03:24,166
He said, yes. That saved my live.

35
00:03:24,167 --> 00:03:32,199
So I have these leather boots, you know, my- my feet healed.

36
00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:49,299
And when it came.. you know, the January, when the camp was evacuated on the march, the leather shoes were very good.

37
00:03:49,300 --> 00:04:05,999
And I survived this march, we marched probably about 60km from eh, Bun- from Auschwitz to Gleiwitz.

38
00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:13,432
We marched. Two nights and days, and people were being killed all the time.

39
00:04:13,433 --> 00:04:21,866
As soon as, as you went to have a pee or something, bent down, you were shot, all the time, all the time.

40
00:04:21,867 --> 00:04:27,899
We had only one rest, in the open of course.

41
00:04:27,900 --> 00:04:34,599
It was an old broken factory there.

42
00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:43,699
Anyway, we arrived in Gleiwitz, they took us to town to have a- a shower.

43
00:04:43,700 --> 00:04:52,566
A group. There was a, a concentration camp - first in the- an empty concentration camp.

44
00:04:52,567 --> 00:04:51,866
These people were already gone.

45
00:04:51,867 --> 00:05:04,032
They took us out for the shower and took us to the railway onto waggons. This time open waggons, not closed.

46
00:05:04,033 --> 00:05:14,699
It was full. By the time I got in the waggons, there was no more room to sit. So I had to stand, in the corner I was standing.

47
00:05:14,700 --> 00:05:18,032
We were travelling for two weeks.

48
00:05:18,033 --> 00:05:23,799
They were- they were uncoup- I was near the lokomotive.

49
00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:28,166
It was a very long train.

50
00:05:28,167 --> 00:05:38,932
And they were uncoupeling waggons stopping in different camps. We were going down into Czechoslowakia, Austria.

51
00:05:38,933 --> 00:05:43,332
Like camps Groß-Rosen, you know - all kinds of camps!

52
00:05:43,333 --> 00:05:50,932
They were stopping, uncoupeling. We could hear. And people were dying in the waggon.

53
00:05:50,933 --> 00:05:56,432
No food. Sometimes they threw in some loafs of bread.

54
00:05:56,433 --> 00:06:00,499
I was standing - it fell. People grabbed it.

55
00:06:00,500 --> 00:06:06,399
I didn't have any food. I asked a boy, gave me a piece of bread. I couldn't eat it.

56
00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:08,966
My jaw was frozen.

57
00:06:08,967 --> 00:06:11,966
So I took snow. We had no water.

58
00:06:11,967 --> 00:06:14,499
Snow with that piece of bread and chewing.

59
00:06:14,500 --> 00:06:29,099
Soon after a week or so, probably more than a week, there was plenty (???) - people died, every night we stopped they asked to throw out.

60
00:06:29,100 --> 00:06:36,132
Another thing happened, when we went into Czechoslowakia, we stopped under a bridge.

61
00:06:36,133 --> 00:06:38,932
I don't know the town it was.

62
00:06:38,933 --> 00:06:47,099
But people were going to work in the morning, they were taking the sandwiches and throwing to us.

63
00:06:47,100 --> 00:06:54,899
And soon a woman came with coffee, but the SS wouldn't let them come near.

64
00:06:54,900 --> 00:06:58,032
They were shooting over their heads.

65
00:06:58,033 --> 00:07:05,432
Anyway, we travelled for two weeks when I arrived near Berlin, I can't remember the name of the town.

66
00:07:05,433 --> 00:07:13,399
You know, and we travelled to Sachsenhausen.

67
00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:24,132
Arrived in Sachensenhausen, a few of us, out of the 80 about ten, nine or ten of us alive.

68
00:07:24,133 --> 00:07:25,566
In the waggon.

69
00:07:25,567 --> 00:07:29,832
Because I was in the last waggon near the lokomotive.

70
00:07:29,833 --> 00:07:34,066
So we got out.

71
00:07:34,067 --> 00:07:39,299
The camp Sachsenhausen was full. There was no room.

72
00:07:39,300 --> 00:07:46,899
So the put us up in the Heinkel-Werke, where they were making the aircraft.

73
00:07:46,900 --> 00:07:52,532
It was like a circus for (???). And the floor was full of wood shaving.

74
00:07:52,533 --> 00:07:56,266
And we slept there over night.

75
00:07:56,267 --> 00:08:09,166
In the morning we stayed in Sachsenhausen not very long. I remember, it take- I had to go out to bring potatoes and so on for barrack.

76
00:08:09,167 --> 00:08:16,966
We had to register, they lost all the documentation. So we have to register. So.

77
00:08:16,967 --> 00:08:27,132
While I registered, I've, I met the boy I slept in the same bank with in Buna. So we kept together.

78
00:08:27,133 --> 00:08:38,666
And while I was in the queue to register, he met some boy from his hometown, his father's friend.

79
00:08:38,667 --> 00:08:44,099
And his father's friend said to him, register as under 16.

80
00:08:44,100 --> 00:08:46,732
Give your age under 16.

81
00:08:46,733 --> 00:08:49,632
We were already about 18 or so.

82
00:08:49,633 --> 00:08:59,866
He wouldn't say why. And we said, it makes no difference, can we register around 18, we registered.

83
00:08:59,867 --> 00:09:10,832
Soon after this station, a group of us, I can't remember how many, were destined for Flossenbürg.

84
00:09:10,833 --> 00:09:18,299
We travelled in a closed vehicle. It was closed. With guards.

85
00:09:18,300 --> 00:09:23,232
Again SS men. Sitting there, full armed.

86
00:09:23,233 --> 00:09:31,966
And we were sitting there with a- I can't remember how long it took from Sachsenhausen to Flossenbürg. It is quite a long way.

87
00:09:31,967 --> 00:09:37,599
Near Berlin, you know, to- to Flossenbürg.

88
00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:43,099
When we arrived there, I think we stopped at the bottom. We didn't go up.

89
00:09:43,100 --> 00:09:47,866
Probably the weather wasn't- we had to walk. I came in the morning.

90
00:09:47,867 --> 00:09:51,966
The place was white under snow completely.

91
00:09:51,967 --> 00:10:02,199
And again the- of course the first protocol is you go to bath.

92
00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:08,232
So we went to this place, we had to undress, give up the clothing.

93
00:10:08,233 --> 00:10:12,732
We left, you know, totally- there were stairs to walk down.

94
00:10:12,733 --> 00:10:20,966
At the top of the stairs, we could leave our shoes and the belt. A leather belt was a peace of string, you know.

95
00:10:20,967 --> 00:10:31,199
When we came- we waited there for the bath like usually till the morning, because at night everyone was sleeping.

96
00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:34,932
We had to stand there wait and wait till the morning.

97
00:10:34,933 --> 00:10:39,599
By the time we were all very- it was already midday.

98
00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:40,566
No food.

99
00:10:40,567 --> 00:10:44,966
We didn't have any food for days and days - or water.

100
00:10:44,967 --> 00:10:51,332
Anyway, this was Flossenbürg.

101
00:10:51,333 --> 00:10:57,432
They took people to accomodate them in different barracks.

102
00:10:57,433 --> 00:11:02,566
They didn't have special barracks. I don't know how many there were. There were two of us left.

103
00:11:02,567 --> 00:11:05,332
I didn't know the other chap.

104
00:11:05,333 --> 00:11:12,566
A Kapo came along about midday, he said, come with me, and took us.

105
00:11:12,567 --> 00:11:26,266
On the way he was pointing out, this is the- you know, the brothel, the Frauenhaus, you know.

106
00:11:26,267 --> 00:11:36,499
And this is, you know, the washhouse, you know, he was pointing out, he was taking us along like this.

107
00:11:36,500 --> 00:11:44,399
And then he said, (???) he turned left - I can't say, it might have been right or left - I- Anyway, I said, turn left.

108
00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:47,132
Then we came to a blind alley.

109
00:11:47,133 --> 00:11:54,632
On one side was one barrack the length of two, like two barracks together.

110
00:11:54,633 --> 00:11:58,899
With a door at the back and a door at the front.

111
00:11:58,900 --> 00:12:08,466
At the back there was a fence, behind the fence, I found out there was a washroom and toilets.

112
00:12:08,467 --> 00:12:13,599
On the lefthand side, there were pits on the ground.

113
00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:19,066
And they were burning bodies, I could tell, because I knew the smell from Birkenau.

114
00:12:19,067 --> 00:12:21,066
They were burning bodies.

115
00:12:21,067 --> 00:12:29,999
Anyway, he took us to a barrack, right the last barrack- the last door at the back.

116
00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:40,099
We came in. The Kapo talked to a man was dressed in Russian clothing in Russian military uniform.

117
00:12:40,100 --> 00:12:45,066
And after he spoke to me, he just showed like this.

118
00:12:45,067 --> 00:12:48,366
There was a- a pritsche.

119
00:12:48,367 --> 00:12:57,099
You know. So we were quickly- lay down fell asleep. We didn't sleep all night.

120
00:12:57,100 --> 00:13:08,632
So slept there, in the morning we got coffee and bread, first food, lastly - and: roll call.

121
00:13:08,633 --> 00:13:16,866
So we went to the roll call, you know what roll call is. You know, in the morning we went to the roll call.

122
00:13:16,867 --> 00:13:21,799
And I remember, it was so cold, because Flossenbürg is on the top of a hill.

123
00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:29,332
It was so cold. My teeth were chattering like this, you know all of a sudden.

124
00:13:29,333 --> 00:13:33,099
Anyway. After the roll call we went back.

125
00:13:33,100 --> 00:13:41,199
We are counted up everybody. There was this place where the roll call took place.

126
00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:52,599
We went back and stayed in the barrack till lunchtime. Lunchtime we had to go out of the- everybody out of the barrack, lined up for the soup.

127
00:13:52,600 --> 00:14:02,166
And as you go to the soup, you went into the barrack to eat it. You were not allowed to go out, you know.

128
00:14:02,167 --> 00:14:07,032
So I go, I went up, gave me the soup, took to barrack..

129
00:14:07,033 --> 00:14:14,799
I have never ever before, for four years in concentration camps, I never saw a soup like this.

130
00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:18,899
Solid potatoes and carrots. Solid!

131
00:14:18,900 --> 00:14:24,832
I took the spoon, put it in and watched what was on the spoon.

132
00:14:24,833 --> 00:14:31,699
I, I couldn't believe it. I didn't eat like this for four years.

133
00:14:31,700 --> 00:14:38,266
Before I finished the soup, I saw, from the corners of my eyes, a Russian.

134
00:14:38,267 --> 00:14:47,699
Took, went to the other door, lifted an iron bar, looked out and went out.

135
00:14:47,700 --> 00:14:50,632
So I thought, I know what he's up to.

136
00:14:50,633 --> 00:14:57,799
I licked my, when I finished, I licked my.. my.. you know, dish clean.

137
00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:05,032
And I went up to the door, looked out, couldn't see anyone, I went out and I joined the queue again.

138
00:15:05,033 --> 00:15:11,432
And I had another portion but if I was caught, I would be in the pits.

139
00:15:11,433 --> 00:15:18,299
So, this was the day I really ate well. I never forget it.

140
00:15:18,300 --> 00:15:33,166
Anyway, we were assigned- the two boys left, were then picked up by the Kapo in the afternoon and taken to the children's block, I was told it was block 16.

141
00:15:33,167 --> 00:15:39,666
Children's block, I was given a bank, at the top.

142
00:15:39,667 --> 00:15:52,999
I was sleeping with a Yugoslav chap. He was telling me his story, he was speaking Yugoslav, I was speaking in Polish. We understood each other, both Slavic languages.

143
00:15:53,000 --> 00:16:11,166
And he was telling me, he was a courier for the partisans and he was caught and sent here. And in the evening, before lights out, a Russian boy had a balalaika, was playing the balalaika and singing Russian songs.

144
00:16:11,167 --> 00:16:19,899
I thought, where am I? Am I in heaven or.. am I in a concentration camp.

145
00:16:19,900 --> 00:16:24,132
Anyway, lights out. The food was better.

146
00:16:24,133 --> 00:16:34,432
In the morning, for roll call, we didn't have to move.. eh, where everybody had to move.

147
00:16:34,433 --> 00:16:43,299
We stand in front of the barrack, counted in the ends, others had to wait till "alles stimmt", you know.

148
00:16:43,300 --> 00:16:51,999
Was lovely, didn't have to work but we could volunteer because you were not allowed to be in the barrack during the day.

149
00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:54,332
So you volunteered.

150
00:16:54,333 --> 00:17:05,399
Sometimes, you volunteered to push food to the kitchen, so if you're lucky, you got a carrot or a turnip.

151
00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:20,866
At other time, you could carry clothing from the washroom to a store, up the hill. There was a hill with an narrow path, no wider than this.

152
00:17:20,867 --> 00:17:30,166
You carried the bundle and you were guarded by a guard, an old man from the Volkssturm.

153
00:17:30,167 --> 00:17:32,632
He had a rifle that high, you know.

154
00:17:32,633 --> 00:17:38,999
And he was the last one and he was going "Gänseschritt, Gänseschritt, Gänseschritt".

155
00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:42,999
We carried up, we came up to the top.

156
00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:52,399
He said "Put down the bundles. And look through all the pockets. Any money you find belongs to me."

157
00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:59,566
And turned round his back, put his hands, kept at the back. For the money..

158
00:17:59,567 --> 00:18:03,999
Needless to say, we couldn't find any money.

159
00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:12,766
But as soon as he turned his back, I took off the jacket which was a terrible garment, I got.

160
00:18:12,767 --> 00:18:22,066
And put on the best one from the bundle. So.. So, it was profitable in this way.

161
00:18:22,067 --> 00:18:44,499
After being in this barrack for a while, I can't remember how many weeks, one morning at roll call, the.. barrack Kapo, you know, Stubenälteste, said,

162
00:18:44,500 --> 00:18:57,532
"I've got something to tell you. I've got Jews in my barrack" - because they couldn't tell, before in Auschwitz, you got the triangle, you know.

163
00:18:57,533 --> 00:19:04,266
So, you could tell Jews there but just "KL", nothing in the front.

164
00:19:04,267 --> 00:19:23,432
So somebody must have told him, he said "I've got 30 lousy, scabby Hungarian Jews in my barrack. I won't stand, I won't stand for it. They will cause an epidemic."

165
00:19:23,433 --> 00:19:31,032
First, he said, "Older Jews will have to sleep by the window."

166
00:19:31,033 --> 00:19:33,899
"The windows will be open."

167
00:19:33,900 --> 00:19:37,832
"I will take away all the blankets."

168
00:19:37,833 --> 00:19:48,266
And since there were not enough banks by the window, Jews will have to sleep three to a bank.

169
00:19:48,267 --> 00:19:52,066
It was narrow enough for two and nevermind for three.

170
00:19:52,067 --> 00:20:04,099
I didn't sleep since then because I was the weak one, the smallest one, so they pushing me out. I was sleeping, you know, on the edge.

171
00:20:04,100 --> 00:20:06,466
It was terrible.

172
00:20:06,467 --> 00:20:12,899
And in the morning, he said, the Jews will have to be the first out of the barrack.

173
00:20:12,900 --> 00:20:21,499
And he was standing by the door, with attention, hitting one, two, three, bang, bang, bang, over the head.

174
00:20:21,500 --> 00:20:26,999
It became.. very bad as you can imagine.

175
00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:30,032
But he was not satisfied.

176
00:20:30,033 --> 00:20:44,999
One morning, he said "I have decided to get rid of the Jews from my barrack. Everybody will be told, the barrack they should report to."

177
00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:52,166
I was repor- given a number, I think it was 27, might be wrong.

178
00:20:52,167 --> 00:21:06,366
So, I went to barrack 27, there was allready a group of youngsters, little ones, waiting there.. around.

179
00:21:06,367 --> 00:21:21,666
So I asked somebody, "Do you live in this barrack?" He said, yes. I said, "What's the Kapo like?" He said, "He's terrible, he's a murderer. He's a murderer."

180
00:21:21,667 --> 00:21:29,732
My luck, the Kapo arrived, called us together, he said "Stand around me."

181
00:21:29,733 --> 00:21:31,966
Then he made a speech.

182
00:21:31,967 --> 00:21:35,599
He said "You are now, you are my children."

183
00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:41,999
By then, you already know, they game is over, the war was over.

184
00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:45,632
"You are my children, I will look after you well."

185
00:21:45,633 --> 00:21:58,866
Now, he said "I want you to go to the washroom, have your hair cut, there will be a barber and wash your hands, you come back, I will inspect you."

186
00:21:58,867 --> 00:22:02,099
Which we did.

187
00:22:02,100 --> 00:22:07,466
When I went in the washroom, I saw a body on the floor.

188
00:22:07,467 --> 00:22:13,466
Which looked familiar. I bent down and this was my, a school friend of mine.

189
00:22:13,467 --> 00:22:14,999
I knew.

190
00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:19,866
I met him in the small town that I escaped from the village.

191
00:22:19,867 --> 00:22:22,999
Anyway, we went back.

192
00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:26,366
He inspected us.

193
00:22:26,367 --> 00:22:32,932
And we were assigned banks in his barrack.

194
00:22:32,933 --> 00:22:41,999
And he sat, eh.. at the lunch time, he will be the first to get the soup.

195
00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:48,166
That was no good because the soup from the top was all water but.. still.

196
00:22:48,167 --> 00:22:51,299
You had to do as you were told.

197
00:22:51,300 --> 00:23:07,332
And eh, this thing in this.. barrack, a.. a German Kapo came in, he was carrying a pair of high boots.

198
00:23:07,333 --> 00:23:12,332
Small ones.

199
00:23:12,333 --> 00:23:16,966
"Does anyone want to exchange their boots with me?"

200
00:23:16,967 --> 00:23:26,132
I look and see, high boots, lovely, I will have (???). I put them on, they were a little bit tight, I said "They will stretch."

201
00:23:26,133 --> 00:23:30,732
So I gave him my boots from, from Auschwitz.

202
00:23:30,733 --> 00:23:35,499
And he gave me these boots. Then I found out they were too tight.

203
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That if I had to march, I'm a dead man.

204
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So, in his barrack, a few days later, in the afternoon, he said, he called us into his room, the Kapo.

205
00:23:52,833 --> 00:24:07,799
Little chairs, sit down, he brought in a fiddle to play music for us. I thought, this is absolutely crazy.

206
00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:18,566
It did not take long where he gave an order that we should, Jews should step out. We stepped out.

207
00:24:18,567 --> 00:24:29,966
He said "You are leaving Flossenbürg tomorrow morning. You report, you know, tomorrow morning."

208
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Following morning, we were taken to a, to a station.

209
00:24:38,333 --> 00:24:59,166
Not.. not.. not a station because we travelled from eh.. eh.. from Flossenbürg to eh.. on the way to Dachau.

210
00:24:59,167 --> 00:25:05,832
They were taking us. By train, they put us on a train again.

211
00:25:05,833 --> 00:25:16,366
On this train, we started moving, the train was attacked by Allied. Shot up.

212
00:25:16,367 --> 00:25:25,332
And the guards, SS guards, jumped as soon as they started shooting, the train stopped.

213
00:25:25,333 --> 00:25:31,699
They, they jumped down in the field and we followed.

214
00:25:31,700 --> 00:25:39,732
But we noticed that the guards left the rucksacks behind. I noticed. Right.

215
00:25:39,733 --> 00:25:51,366
The Fliegeralarm stopped, we went back into the train and travelled.

216
00:25:51,367 --> 00:25:54,466
Not far off, again attacked.

217
00:25:54,467 --> 00:25:57,466
This time, they shot up the locomotive.

218
00:25:57,467 --> 00:26:02,532
So we couldn't travel any further.

219
00:26:02,533 --> 00:26:12,932
But some of the chaps went for the rucksack, they took, they took the bread and the cigarettes.

220
00:26:12,933 --> 00:26:22,032
When I got the rucksack, all there was, was a packet of margarine, a small packet of margarine, put it in my pocket.

221
00:26:22,033 --> 00:26:34,499
After the alarm, again back, the guards noticed, it was taken, they said "Give back the bread and the cigarettes."

222
00:26:34,500 --> 00:26:41,566
No one answered. "We will shoot everybody." No one answered.

223
00:26:41,567 --> 00:26:55,966
Of course, they had an option, they said, I'm.. they pushed us all to the back of the train and said "I'm going to search you." I had this packet of margarine, I ate it up.

224
00:26:55,967 --> 00:27:02,366
I went to the back, I ate it up, he didn't do me any harm.

225
00:27:02,367 --> 00:27:11,766
Anyway, so, from.. from there, we couldn't travel any further.

226
00:27:11,767 --> 00:27:16,199
Because the locomotive was shot up.

227
00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:34,532
So, the SS called out anyone who can't travel, is too weak or too ill, should wait, they will come, the vehicles will come and take them away.

228
00:27:34,533 --> 00:27:37,532
I wasn't taken in by it.

229
00:27:37,533 --> 00:27:43,999
I was, I, I chose to march. So we marched.

230
00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:48,266
And the people who stayed behind, were taken to a field and shot.

231
00:27:48,267 --> 00:27:57,499
And we marched. It was a long march. And eh..

232
00:27:57,500 --> 00:28:02,099
A lot of, a lot of people were shot.

233
00:28:02,100 --> 00:28:07,966
And you know, and we were liberated, all of a sudden, marching, we stopped.

234
00:28:07,967 --> 00:28:12,832
Very long column, I could see, you know, in front of me.

235
00:28:12,833 --> 00:28:22,399
And eh.. We stopped on one side was a woodland, the other side were potato field.

236
00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:31,999
And we stopped and waited, why did we stop? I looked in the front, the column is breaking up and people are running away.

237
00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:34,366
That's odd.

238
00:28:34,367 --> 00:28:45,599
So waited and waited and one, one boy said "I will go to the woodland and see what's happening. And I'll tell you."

239
00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:49,132
He went, he didn't come back.

240
00:28:49,133 --> 00:28:54,332
So there were three of us standing together. I knew the boys from this barrack.

241
00:28:54,333 --> 00:29:00,166
We said: "We will all go into the woodlands." It started raining. You know.

242
00:29:00,167 --> 00:29:04,766
We went into the woodlands, we marched to the end, there's a village.

243
00:29:04,767 --> 00:29:13,066
It was a.. a semi-circle, the village. Went into the village, we knocked on the first door.

244
00:29:13,067 --> 00:29:17,232
Someone said, "We are full up."

245
00:29:17,233 --> 00:29:25,799
The second, the second house, "We are full of Hungarians, full of Poles, full of Romanians."

246
00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:39,466
And so we went to the last house, "We are full up." We said, "Look, we can't go anywhere else. We are hungry, we are cold. Please help us."

247
00:29:39,467 --> 00:29:56,266
So the man came out, a tall man, a farmer, he said, "I will tell you what, I will let you stay in my.. stable. Eh.. For the time being, but you have to go."

248
00:29:56,267 --> 00:30:03,699
So we went into the stable and he said, we said, "We are hungry, we didn't eat for days."

249
00:30:03,700 --> 00:30:16,799
"Wait here." He came out with hot milk and little doughs in the milk. And a slice of bread and we ate this, we fell asleep.

250
00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:22,966
So he said to us, "You can't sleep here, you'll get frozen to death, it's so cold at night."

251
00:30:22,967 --> 00:30:31,766
He said, "You can sleep in my cowshed, I have got one cow there. You can sleep there."

252
00:30:31,767 --> 00:30:43,399
So we went to the cowshed, put some fresh straw and we, and we slept and we slept there and eh..

253
00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:51,066
In the morning, he came in with a bucket of hot water, a piece of soap and three shirts.

254
00:30:51,067 --> 00:30:58,832
Linen shirts, like farmers, white linen shirts, witthout collars.

255
00:30:58,833 --> 00:31:10,466
Washed ourselves, you know, outside in the cold, oh, it was lovely, having nice hot water and a clean shirt without holes, you know.

256
00:31:10,467 --> 00:31:15,332
It, it was like born again.

257
00:31:15,333 --> 00:31:33,632
So, later on the day, he said, "The SS are looking for you. You better go and join them." So I said, "No, I'm not going. If they want me, they will come here. I'm not going.."

258
00:31:33,633 --> 00:31:43,332
So we stayed there, till sunday. Sunday, he invited us in to lunch.

259
00:31:43,333 --> 00:31:46,899
It was empty, it was just the three of us.

260
00:31:46,900 --> 00:31:53,632
Gave us lunch, I can't remember what, and we told him that we are leaving.

261
00:31:53,633 --> 00:32:04,166
He was near, near road, near main road and we knew already, American vehicles were travelling, so Americans were already there.

262
00:32:04,167 --> 00:32:17,566
But the SS men were still in the woods, killing people. So on a, on monday morning, we left.

263
00:32:17,567 --> 00:32:26,632
We walked along the road, we saw an American vehicle, standing by the road, a jeep.

264
00:32:26,633 --> 00:32:37,566
So we walked up to the jeep, it was empty, the Americans were in the field, they were heating tins of food.

265
00:32:37,567 --> 00:32:53,999
I remember when we came there, they were heating the fire and the fire they were making, you know, with what? With marks, notes of Marks, high denominations, hundreds, thousands Marks.

266
00:32:54,000 --> 00:33:00,999
They had ammunition cases, full of German money and heating the tins with it.

267
00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:04,232
So I said to myself, "That's odd."

268
00:33:04,233 --> 00:33:12,632
I said, "A fortune, obviously, now, Marks are not worth anything if they are burning them like this."

269
00:33:12,633 --> 00:33:24,999
So we went up to them and they gave us some food and they said, "Look, eh, where are you going to?"

270
00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:31,066
I said, "We don't know where." They suggested, we go to the nearest town, it's Neunburg.

271
00:33:31,067 --> 00:33:38,267
They said, it's not very far. It took us three days to get there, we walked -