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IV: Hello, hello, hello, hello...

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Today is the..

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What is the date today?

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IH: The 25th...

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IV: Today is April 25, 2013.

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We are in the Flossenbürg Memorial and are speaking today with Stefan Hajdu from Hungary who spent the last ten days before the liberation in Flossenbürg. OK.

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IV: Born?

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IH: '29. 1929, July 21.

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IV: Why don't you tell me a bit about your childhood, your family, how you lived. 

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IH: Yes. I was born in the Balaton lake region, the place I was born is called Taploca in Hungary.

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My mother was born there too. 

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And my father was born about 100 km from there in Dombóvár.

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My father had been an officer on the front with the Russians in World War I. 

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He was shot in the lung during wartime. 

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And afterwards he was a prisoner of war in Wladiwostok in Siberia for 2 years. 

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In 1920 there was a big timber business in Tapolca and the owner, and the others who ran it, died. 

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And they were looking for someone who could keep it running there. 

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And my father won that. 

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So after 1920 he was in Tapolca in a large timber, cement, bricks and roofing tiles, and everything needed for construction could be found in this store. 

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This is where he worked. 

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This is where he met my mom and they married in 1935.

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My brother was born in 1926.

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His name was György and I was born three years after György in 1929. 

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So Györy was born in '26 and I was born in '29, there in Tapolca, in this timber store where we lived too.  

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Because there was a big apartment there. It was a house and in this house there was a three-room apartment with a bathroom, even back then, and with a large kitchen. 

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And everything else that belonged in a house. 

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So that is where I grew up. 

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I had, as far as I can remember, was a very stable, good childhood. 

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And we went on lots of daytrips, took long walks. 

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My mom didn't work, was just busy with my brother and me. 

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So we were children, and had a very good atmosphere. 

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You could say we lived well.

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From 9...my grandmother, from my mother's side, also lived in Tapolca. 

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And my grandfather lived too back then, and my grandmother. 

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Grandfather died in 1936. 

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And my grandmother was left alone. 

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After that we visited her every day. 

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Or my mother, or the children. 

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You have to know that in Hungary...we were very close to Austria. 

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And from 19..I think the annexation was in '38.

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Before that there was strong antisemitism in Hungary. 

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We didn't feel it personally very much because my father had been awarded medals in World War I. 

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And when the laws came against the Jews it always said "except those who have medals from World War I." 

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And so I can say we didn't feel disadvantaged at all. 

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I started school in 1936. 

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In a Jewish school. That was a very small school, because...Tapolca is a small town. 

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There were maybe 8- 9,000 residents. 

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But it was a district town, so there werer lots of villages in the area and they all belonged officially to Tapolca. 

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And when the annexation came, in 1938, my grandparents resettled entirely from Austria to Hungary.

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Because my grandparents lived in Vienna in the winter. 

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And during the summer months they were always in Tapolca, because next to Tapolca is Szigliget...where they had a large vineyard.

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My grandfather was a wine merchant. 

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He made wine himself. 

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And bought a lot of wine from the neighboring areas. 

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And he brought it all to Vienna. 

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And sold it in Vienna because there was a strong interest there...they were very interested in Hungarian Balatan wine. 

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That was a fine, very good wine. 

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So that was until 1938, but my grandfather died in 1936 so that we slowly gave up the wine business. 

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And when the annexation came, it all ended, because we couldn't travel to Austria. 

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And it was Germany at the time. 

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Hitler was already there and it was a very unpleasant connection then because of the strong antisemitism. 

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So I started school in 1936 in the Jewish school. 

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We were maybe 20 children altogether in the Jewish school. 

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But I have to tell something interesting about this. 

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There was a large Catholic school in Tapolca. 

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And the Evangelic and Protestant children all came to the Jewish school. 

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That stood out for me. 

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Still today, I can only explain this in that the level was so much higher. 

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Lots of intelligent children were there. 

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Because...the Jews were all traders....and had businesses. 

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And the city was consolidated. 

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And it was very...pleasant for the people, and many people lived there. 

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Six hundred Jews lived in Tapolca. 

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So after four years in the Jewish school, I went to the secondary school.

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We were all together there, from all religions. 

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But in my class we were 4 Jews, all the others were Catholics, Protestants and Evangelics. 

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It was just for boys. 

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So the...girls had a separate school. 

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We were together in the Jewish school. 

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So no problems with that. 

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Then {clears throat} in the school we did feel the strong antisemitism. 

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Because some of the children insulted us a lot. 

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I can't say beaten, because we were strong boys. 

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So they didn't beat us. 

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But they insulted us and said different things to us. 

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That was routine. 

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We lived with that. 

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It bothered me in the beginning but later I didn't even hear it. 

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So I went to school until 1943. 

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When that was over I couldn't learn anymore because it was forbidden for Jews. 

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They could, but only when there were at least 90% other religions and then the 10% could be from Jews. 

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But in a small town that wasn't possible. 

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So I couldn't go to Gymnasium (high school).

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But then a chance opened up for me. 

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We had a very good neighbor, an electrician. 

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He installed the electricity in buildings. 

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He also repaired radios. 

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He had repaired all kinds of electrical devices back then. 

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I started working there, but not under contract. 

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But he was the only one who let me come every day and help out for as long as I felt like it. 

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Because he didn't report it. 

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IV: yes. 

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IH: So I was there for a while in '43. 

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And then a good friend of my ....parents came into a bookshop.

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They had a printing shop. 

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And they said I should come to the printing shop.

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And there I was also able to learn printing.

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Because that was an interesting field. 

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And something intelligent. 

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Because they have to read a lot more, they have to know the letters and everything,

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and know the grammar too. 

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So I went there. 

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But that was already 1944. 

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And the political situation in '44 was already worse. 

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Getting worse and worse, and we were already in the war by then. 

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Because Hungary had entered the war against the Russians. 

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And all our soldiers were near the Don river. 

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But our border was near Karpatok, not by the Don. 

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And the Don was several thousand kilometers. 

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But there were more than 200,000 Hungarian soldiers there. 

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And then it happened that the Russians came. 

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And the 200,000 Hungarian soldiers remained there. 

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They froze and were killed in the offensive by the Russians. 

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That was the biggest shock for Hungary, that they lost 200,000 soldiers. 

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And many Jews were among the 200,000 soldiers too, but the Jews weren't soldiers. 

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The Jews were called up by the military but only assigned to work groups. 

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But they were all at the Don too, in work groups. 

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And did everything that was necessary on the front. 

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So this loss of 200,000 was a great shock for Hungary. 

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They were a little more restrained back then with the antisemitism, because it was for everyone.  

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The war didn't ask -- who is a Jew and who is not a Jew.

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War is war. 

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So you have to know that. That I went to school in this time. 

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And then I felt too, that many people had started thinking. 

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And that the antisemitism in the last year, 1943, wasn't as strong. 

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But the government had antisemitism, lots of it. 

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IV: propagated. 

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IH: Spread propaganda, yes. 

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IV: But in your everyday life not much had changed from this? In your family?

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IH: No, not at all. 

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Because my father had all these medals from World War I. 

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So I worked in the printing shop until March 1944. 

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1944, March 19. It was a Sunday, they occupied all of Hungary in the night. 

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The German troops arrived. 

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The Hungarian leadership had been invited to the Führer in Berchtesgaden. 

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So there wasn't any leadership at home in Hungary. 

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They were all with Hitler. 

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In the meantime the army...everything occupied. All of Hungary.

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All Hungary is not big, it is a small country with 10 million inhabitants.

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So it... from morning until evening it was over.

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After the occupation a new government was formed and the new government was a really fascist government. 

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It...produced 36 laws against Jews. 

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And these laws had many disadvantages for us. 

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We had to go to the ghetto in May already. 

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We had to wear the yellow star. 

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We had to hand over radios, cameras, also cars, motorcycle, bicycles, everything. 

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Jews were not allowed to keep anything. 

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And we had all of those things. 

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We had a Leica camera. 

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My father had a motorcycle. 

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I had a bicycle. 

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We had a...a radio. 

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We had to hand over all of that. 

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At that time they gave a paper for it. 

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But when we came back, we asked. 

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"Ooooh, that government is long gone.

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We don't know what happened to it." 

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So everything was gone. 

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And when we went to the ghetto, all the Jewish houses and apartments were plundered. 

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Nice paintings, nice rugs, everything that we had built up in my parents'...in 20 years, everything was gone. 

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We were in the ghetto for about four weeks. 

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That wasn't so bad because my grandmother lived on the street where the ghetto was so we went to our grandmother. 

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And it was very pleasant there. 

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But that was only for three or four weeks. 

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Then they collected all the people from the area around Tapolca into the Tapolca ghetto. 

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When that was over, then they brought the Tapolca ghetto and all the other small-town ghettos together into the district capital. 

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So that we... we were 800 people in Tapolca, 800 Jews. 

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And then we went to Zalaegerszeg, that was the capital of the district. 

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We were 4000 people there. 

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From all over. From the whole district. 

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We were there for four weeks. 

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But in the last week, each person was called into the office individually with their luggage. 

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Everything of value was taken away. 

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Everything...rings, earrings, necklaces.

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So everything, everything edible, or made of silver or Alpaca. 

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Took everything away. 

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And a week later deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

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That was 1944, June. 

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Then we, the whole family, and all our acquaintances and all my childhood friends who I had gone to school with, arrived in Auschwitz.

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That took four days, before we got from Zalaegerszeg to Auschwitz. That was an...

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IV: by train. 

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IH: unpleasant trip, because it was June, and in June it was hot. 

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It was over 30 degrees. 

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We were 70 people squeezed into railway wagons. 

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And many old people, many children and everything. 

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And many of the old people died along the way. 

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But they didn't open up. 

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In Auschwitz they said whoever is still alive should get out. 

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We got out there. 

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We had no idea where we were. 

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Why we were there....and what was going to happen to us. 

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We had to go through a gate. 

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Dr. Mengele was waiting for us, very friendly. 

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He said: "You go left, you go right, and you go to work, you go to the gas." 

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But he didn't say anything, he just pointed with his stick. 

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So I stayed with my father. 

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But all my other relatives, including my mother.

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My mother was hanging onto grandmother. 

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Grandmother was sick and already 70 years old.

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And so she also went to the gas chamber. 

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With many, many relatives and many friends of mine. 

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One schoolmate came to me, all the others went to the gas chamber.  

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Auschwitz was upleasant...uh that was Auschwitz-Birkenau.

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Birkenau was unpleasant. Bad atmosphere. 

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It was the Germans too, were always screaming. 

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And it was so terrible for us. 

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For those who had come from a small town. 

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We had no idea what this was.

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So then they had us there...we were there for maybe ten days. 

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For these ten days were had to stand roll call for hours. 

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They counted, and calculated. 

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Then out...now everyone goes back, now this. 

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That was ridiculous when I think about it now. 

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It made no sense at all. 

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But yes, they made us stand in the sun for hours. 

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and, and nothing happened. 

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After 4, uh, after ten days two large transports were put together. 

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And we were brought to Buchenwald. 

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In Buchenwald the atmosphere was much better. 

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It was overcrowded, so we arrived at...not just a small camp, but a tent camp.

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Because the other barracks were all full. Overcrowded.

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So that we were there for maybe four weeks. 

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for three or four weeks. 

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There were medical examinations, we were vaccinated. 

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Information was given. 

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And 4000 people were assembled. 

237
00:22:54,100 --> 00:23:01,132
And we...I was sent with my father to Zeitz. 

238
00:23:01,133 --> 00:23:03,732
I not sure if you know where Zeitz is. 

239
00:23:03,733 --> 00:23:11,266
Zeitz is about 60 km from Leipzig between Leipzig and Gera. 

240
00:23:11,267 --> 00:23:20,566
There was a huge petrol factory, not right in Zeitz, but in the outskirts of Zeitz. 

241
00:23:20,567 --> 00:23:29,466
It was called BRABAG, that is an abbreviation for Braunkohle-Benzinwerk AG-Werk Zeitz.

242
00:23:29,467 --> 00:23:35,066
That was near the small town of Tröglitz, near Tröglitz. 

243
00:23:35,067 --> 00:23:41,166
And they built a large tent camp for us in Tröglitz. 

244
00:23:41,167 --> 00:23:45,832
Many of these 4000 people came from Hungary. 

245
00:23:45,833 --> 00:23:57,899
But they were also from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Slovakia, a mixed group. 

246
00:23:57,900 --> 00:24:07,899
It was our job in the BRABAG to....the ruins.. uh, how do you say it...I don't know how it is called. 

247
00:24:07,900 --> 00:24:08,599
IV: clear out. 

248
00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:16,599
IH: Yes, to clear out. Because there were bombings sometimes and the work was suppose to continue. 

249
00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:21,499
That is why they needed prisoners, because they do everything. 

250
00:24:21,500 --> 00:24:30,666
They laid new railroad tracks because there were railroad lines inside the whole factory and tracks.  

251
00:24:30,667 --> 00:24:34,366
And that is where the huge containers were for petrol. 

252
00:24:34,367 --> 00:24:37,899
And they...they came and they left. 

253
00:24:37,900 --> 00:24:48,532
And when something was damaged, then the prisoners came and for a week they put everything back...everything was repaired.  

254
00:24:48,533 --> 00:24:53,799
So that is where we worked as of July. 

255
00:24:53,800 --> 00:25:00,232
LaterJuly, I think. Then we traveled, or early August, I don't know exactly. 

256
00:25:00,233 --> 00:25:05,032
It was a few days, I think, that were covered. 

257
00:25:05,033 --> 00:25:14,232
So I was there until January 1945.  

258
00:25:14,233 --> 00:25:19,999
But in the meantime my father had fallen ill. 

259
00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:23,999
He caught pneumonia.

260
00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:30,399
Had a cold and after the pneumonia he became weak and it kept getting worse. 

261
00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:34,699
So in December he died, next to me. 

262
00:25:34,700 --> 00:25:36,166
Then I was left alone. 

263
00:25:36,167 --> 00:25:45,532
But there was a small group from my hometown of Tapolca that was still with us. 

264
00:25:45,533 --> 00:25:53,599
And these older people, the rabbi was still there, the teacher, the...father-in-law from the rabbi...

265
00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:59,932
So many who had known me since my birth. 

266
00:25:59,933 --> 00:26:04,932
So we were together with this group. 

267
00:26:04,933 --> 00:26:08,666
They always helped a bit when it was needed. 

268
00:26:08,667 --> 00:26:12,932
But I was left alone 

269
00:26:12,933 --> 00:26:20,099
And ...there were always, often bombings there, where I was. 

270
00:26:20,100 --> 00:26:25,999
We experienced very many unpleasant things. 

271
00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:29,199
Because the tent camp was very cold. 

272
00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:31,199
It was already October. 

273
00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:43,432
And they had begun to build stone barracks and an entire camp next to the other cmap, that was called Rehmsdorf. 

274
00:26:43,433 --> 00:26:52,666
Our camp was set up in Rehmsdorf, next to the railway station.

275
00:26:52,667 --> 00:26:58,132
So we systematically...resettled. 

276
00:26:58,133 --> 00:27:06,166
Early in the morning we went to the BRABAG works and we didn't return to Tröglitz, but instead to the new barracks. 

277
00:27:06,167 --> 00:27:10,932
It was a different group every day that went to the new barracks. 

278
00:27:10,933 --> 00:27:16,299
So that by December we were all in the new barracks. 

279
00:27:16,300 --> 00:27:19,632
And the tent camp was closed down. 

280
00:27:19,633 --> 00:27:24,666
My father had caught a cold in the tent camp, right at the beginning. 

281
00:27:24,667 --> 00:27:34,899
And at that time I had the opportunity to go with this Hungarian group into a very good barrack. 

282
00:27:34,900 --> 00:27:39,599
In Barrack 5, where there were many of these acquaintances. 

283
00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:47,032
Who always looked after us, so that we were well adjusted. 

284
00:27:47,033 --> 00:27:49,999
That we didn't feel alone. 

285
00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:58,066
So with my friend, with my schoolmate we were together until January. 

286
00:27:58,067 --> 00:28:01,166
Two...two things happened in January. 

287
00:28:01,167 --> 00:28:12,999
The first thing was that they announced that 800 prisoners could be exchanged with Buchenwald. 

288
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:21,499
800 people go back and 800 new laborers come to Buchenwald. 

289
00:28:21,500 --> 00:28:31,232
First they assembled the people who were weak, the ones who couldn't work well. 

290
00:28:31,233 --> 00:28:33,199
Who had fallen ill early. 

291
00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:37,532
But they only had 200 people together. 

292
00:28:37,533 --> 00:28:41,799
600 to 800 were still missing. 

293
00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:45,399
And then it was announced: "Who wants to volunteer?"

294
00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:50,832
"Who wants to go back to Buchenwald?"

295
00:28:50,833 --> 00:28:54,032
We spoke about this with my friend. 

296
00:28:54,033 --> 00:28:57,732
My idea was, and I said it to him: 

297
00:28:57,733 --> 00:29:02,832
"Listen, it is bad here. It can't be worse there.

298
00:29:02,833 --> 00:29:08,166
It could only be the same or better. 

299
00:29:08,167 --> 00:29:10,599
Should we try it?"

300
00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:16,432
But we asked the older people what they thought, what they had to say about it. 

301
00:29:16,433 --> 00:29:24,366
They said to us: "We are staying, but you should do whatever you want." 

302
00:29:24,367 --> 00:29:28,332
We couldn't get any good advice. 

303
00:29:28,333 --> 00:29:37,999
That was the thing. Everyone was supposed to judge for themselves whether it was worth it going back or not. 

304
00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:44,799
They stayed there and the two of us went back to Buchenwald. 

305
00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:47,666
Now I have to say something about this. 

306
00:29:47,667 --> 00:29:52,266
No one from this group survived.

307
00:29:52,267 --> 00:29:56,432
Because it was a death march before the liberation. 

308
00:29:56,433 --> 00:29:58,599
And everyone could...dead. 

309
00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:04,899
And the two of us stayed alive, we who went back to Buchenwald. But...

310
00:30:04,900 --> 00:30:08,999
IV: Can we take a short break. I would like to ask you something before we continue. 

311
00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:11,399
IH: Yes, you can ask. 

312
00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:16,266
IV: You described that when you arrived in Auschwitz it was terrible. 

313
00:30:16,267 --> 00:30:19,832
But you didn't have any idea....what it was. 

314
00:30:19,833 --> 00:30:22,132
What it was about, this camp. 

315
00:30:22,133 --> 00:30:29,599
Did you know what happened to your mother and grandmother? Or did you find this out later?

316
00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:31,999
IH: Exactly. Exactly as you said. 

317
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:36,199
That no one..said anything. 

318
00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:39,099
We didn't know anything. 

319
00:30:39,100 --> 00:30:48,999
And we were very unsure because there was a block curfew at nine in the evening. 

320
00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:55,099
That meant, when it was dark, no one was allowed to leave the block. 

321
00:30:55,100 --> 00:31:05,166
But as curious people we looked out, through the door and through the windows there. 

322
00:31:05,167 --> 00:31:17,499
And we saw that the sky was totally red, because the crematorium, four crematoria were burning day and night. 

323
00:31:17,500 --> 00:31:19,532
And that was very conspicuous. 

324
00:31:19,533 --> 00:31:36,499
Some people said that they had the feeling that the old people and the ones who couldn't work, were maybe being exterminated there. 

325
00:31:36,500 --> 00:31:42,499
But how and what was happening with...that we didn't know. 

326
00:31:42,500 --> 00:31:56,399
Only a few said that it is very peculiar... to think about what that could be, the block curfew and everything all red over there. 

327
00:31:56,400 --> 00:32:02,299
But we didn't know any more. 

328
00:32:02,300 --> 00:32:13,399
Then we went away and some in Buchenwald said that all of those people had been gassed. 

329
00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:16,299
And burned too. 

330
00:32:16,300 --> 00:32:27,266
So also my parents, my..my mother, my grandmother, my buddies and everyone who couldn't work. 

331
00:32:27,267 --> 00:32:33,199
But that was just talk between people. 

332
00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:37,866
We didn't learn for certain until after the liberation. 

333
00:32:37,867 --> 00:32:42,332
Many months later. 

334
00:32:42,333 --> 00:32:53,166
So I have to continue, so when we were grouped together with these 800 people who were going back to Buchenwald,

335
00:32:53,167 --> 00:32:59,099
something else, something big happened in Rehmsdorf. 

336
00:32:59,100 --> 00:33:11,532
The Americans bombed and destroyed the entire BRABAG works all night long on January 16.

337
00:33:11,533 --> 00:33:15,632
Nothing left but stones on top of stones. 

338
00:33:15,633 --> 00:33:20,099
They did a very important job. 

339
00:33:20,100 --> 00:33:22,999
Destroying everything. 

340
00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:33,932
They dropped so many bombs that the town, it was 3 km away from the BRABAG, also got hit by a few bombs. 

341
00:33:33,933 --> 00:33:38,632
And a bomb also fell on our corner of the concentration camp. 

342
00:33:38,633 --> 00:33:40,999
But it wasn't destroyed. 

343
00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:47,899
It was open for days, but the SS were watching, no one wanted to leave. 

344
00:33:47,900 --> 00:33:51,499
We didn't know where we could go, nowhere. 

345
00:33:51,500 --> 00:33:56,566
The entire surrounding area was German and we didn't know where we were. 

346
00:33:56,567 --> 00:34:00,666
Where is Rehmsdorf? I had never heard of it.

347
00:34:00,667 --> 00:34:10,166
I had heard of Zeitz, and then...it occurred to me that it is not the Zeitz that I was thinking of. 

348
00:34:10,167 --> 00:34:14,066
It was the Carl Zeiss Jena that I knew. 

349
00:34:14,067 --> 00:34:17,199
From the optics factory in Jena.

350
00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:22,232
And back then I thought that is the same Zeitz. No. 

351
00:34:22,233 --> 00:34:26,666
Later I learned this because I was there after the war. 

352
00:34:26,667 --> 00:34:35,499
So after the ...bombing, three days later they sent us back to Buchenwald. 

353
00:34:35,500 --> 00:34:43,066
These 800 people. The others helped in the damaged village. 

354
00:34:43,067 --> 00:34:51,866
Everything had to be fixed up again for the people, the citizens there. 

355
00:34:51,867 --> 00:34:56,032
So the two of us, with my friend,

356
00:34:56,033 --> 00:35:05,566
and I have to say, someone else too, I have to say Kertész Imre, Imre Kertész, the Nobel Prize winner, was with me the whole time. 

357
00:35:05,567 --> 00:35:13,132
He was with me in Auschwitz.. We came to Buchenwald together,

358
00:35:13,133 --> 00:35:19,366
and he also went from Buchenwald to BRABAG, Kertész.

359
00:35:19,367 --> 00:35:24,099
And Kertész.was sick because his knee was so big. 

360
00:35:24,100 --> 00:35:28,599
And ...he was in the hospital from late October. 

361
00:35:28,600 --> 00:35:38,232
But he came with me on the transport, the 800, back to Buchenwald.

362
00:35:38,233 --> 00:35:45,866
I only say this because he is a well-known man, and a lot was heard from Kertész later. 

363
00:35:45,867 --> 00:35:50,266
Because they made a film out of the Kertész' novel.

364
00:35:50,267 --> 00:35:58,066
And you should know that I worked for 43 years in film in Hungary. 

365
00:35:58,067 --> 00:36:02,032
That's how I came to have very many accquaintances. 

366
00:36:02,033 --> 00:36:07,566
I worked with many directors and many operators. 

367
00:36:07,567 --> 00:36:12,732
And my specialty was preparation. The laboratory. 

368
00:36:12,733 --> 00:36:14,932
I worked in the laboratory. 

369
00:36:14,933 --> 00:36:21,666
So when this film from Kertész was being made. His...

370
00:36:21,667 --> 00:36:34,432
Then Lajos Koltai, the director, I knew him for 20 years through work. 

371
00:36:34,433 --> 00:36:43,599
Later he learned from someone that I was in the exact same camp, exactly where Kertész had been.

372
00:36:43,600 --> 00:36:48,066
Then he came to me and asked me about everything. 

373
00:36:48,067 --> 00:36:54,132
And asked me to be an advisor on his film. 

374
00:36:54,133 --> 00:37:01,266
That I should help make the atmosphere and everything the way it was back then. 

375
00:37:01,267 --> 00:37:08,332
So I just wanted to add that I worked very hard on this film. 

376
00:37:08,333 --> 00:37:14,099
And my name is on it, that I was an advisor. 

377
00:37:14,100 --> 00:37:21,732
And I helped with lots of details, so that everything was done...right. 

378
00:37:21,733 --> 00:37:23,866
But that was just a...

379
00:37:23,867 --> 00:37:25,466
IV: digression. 

380
00:37:25,467 --> 00:37:28,099
IH: Yes. 

381
00:37:28,100 --> 00:37:32,066
In Buchenwald we lost each other, my friend. 

382
00:37:32,067 --> 00:37:38,499
It wasn't possible for everyone to go at once into the baths, these 800 people.

383
00:37:38,500 --> 00:37:41,032
We were in small groups.

384
00:37:41,033 --> 00:37:44,332
And he went in with a different group. 

385
00:37:44,333 --> 00:37:47,499
And I went in with the last group.

386
00:37:47,500 --> 00:37:50,399
And that was a major problem. 

387
00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:54,666
Because the last group was there at 5 o'clock in the afternoon. 

388
00:37:54,667 --> 00:37:56,432
It was already dark. 

389
00:37:56,433 --> 00:37:57,999
That was in January. 

390
00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:02,599
They forgot to bring us to a barrack. 

391
00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:12,166
So after the warm bath they left us outside for the whole night. 

392
00:38:12,167 --> 00:38:15,166
Minus three degrees. 

393
00:38:15,167 --> 00:38:20,499
And it was terribly cold for us. 

394
00:38:20,500 --> 00:38:25,066
But they didn't bring us to the barrack until the next day. 

395
00:38:25,067 --> 00:38:28,766
And I had a high fever because I had gotten so cold. 

396
00:38:28,767 --> 00:38:31,632
And I caught pneumonia. 

397
00:38:31,633 --> 00:38:38,599
After the pneumonia, they noticed right away that I had a high fever. 

398
00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:42,999
So I went to the resting barrack. 

399
00:38:43,000 --> 00:38:50,366
The resting barrack was a comfortable place, exactly like all the other barracks. 

400
00:38:50,367 --> 00:38:53,132
But we didn't have to stand for roll call. 

401
00:38:53,133 --> 00:38:58,899
We didn't have to stand in line for food, because someone brought it to us. 

402
00:38:58,900 --> 00:39:08,699
It was a quiet atmosphere and the whole barrack was nice and warm.

403
00:39:08,700 --> 00:39:16,999
I was there from January to mid-March, until mid-March.

404
00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:27,732
B...mid-March I was...I had recuperated so that I was brought to the small camp, to the children's barrack.  

405
00:39:27,733 --> 00:39:32,399
In...it was called the 66th Barrack. 

406
00:39:32,400 --> 00:39:35,399
Barrack 66, that was the children's barrack. 

407
00:39:35,400 --> 00:39:38,466
There were many Hungarian children there. 

408
00:39:38,467 --> 00:39:48,999
Everywhere I was, I was with Polish and French and Belgian children, so I could barely speak with the people. 

409
00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:52,866
No contact because we spoke different languages. 

410
00:39:52,867 --> 00:40:02,766
A few could speak a little German, I could speak a little German too back then, but that wasn't really contact.

411
00:40:02,767 --> 00:40:08,366
So I arrived in the 66 in March 1944. 

412
00:40:08,367 --> 00:40:15,066
There was a very good atmosphere there, it was a good, young group. 

413
00:40:15,067 --> 00:40:18,699
I don't know where they got a radio from. 

414
00:40:18,700 --> 00:40:22,799
They had a radio in the concentration camp. 

415
00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:28,799
And we heard on it that the Americans were already in Erfurt. 

416
00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:33,432
And Erfurt to Weimar is not a great distance. 

417
00:40:33,433 --> 00:40:37,766
And Buchenwald is 7 km from Weimar. 

418
00:40:37,767 --> 00:40:43,332
And we also heard that the Americans were working there steady. 

419
00:40:43,333 --> 00:40:56,799
So on April 4 they said in the megaphone that all Jews should line up on the roll call grounds.  

420
00:40:56,800 --> 00:41:01,266
Because the evacuation was beginning. 

421
00:41:01,267 --> 00:41:10,299
But you have to know that there were more than 40,000 prisoners in Buchenwald. 

422
00:41:10,300 --> 00:41:15,299
Everyone knew that. They couldn't evacuate 40,000 people. 

423
00:41:15,300 --> 00:41:18,999
Where to? And why? With what?

424
00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:21,699
So the Jews didn't line up. 

425
00:41:21,700 --> 00:41:26,066
A few went to the roll call grounds.

426
00:41:26,067 --> 00:41:31,999
But several thousand hid in different barracks. 

427
00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:34,899
Us too, in the children's barracks. 

428
00:41:34,900 --> 00:41:37,366
We were there for two days. 

429
00:41:37,367 --> 00:41:41,099
I had to go out to the toilet. 

430
00:41:41,100 --> 00:41:46,332
And... many people for the transport were missing. 

431
00:41:46,333 --> 00:41:52,599
Those who were outside the barrack, like me, I went to the toilet. 

432
00:41:52,600 --> 00:41:56,266
I couldn't go back to my barrack. 

433
00:41:56,267 --> 00:41:58,499
The kapos had looked there. 

434
00:41:58,500 --> 00:42:03,132
When someone came out, they were sent right to the transport. 

435
00:42:03,133 --> 00:42:07,266
So we had to walk to Weimar. 

436
00:42:07,267 --> 00:42:10,999
Walked to Weimar. We arrived in Weimar in the evening. 

437
00:42:11,000 --> 00:42:17,399
And...in Weimar squeezed right away into open coal railway wagons. 

438
00:42:17,400 --> 00:42:28,732
And the train departed in the night but no one knew where to and what would happen. 

439
00:42:28,733 --> 00:42:33,266
And every second wagon had an SS guard. 

440
00:42:33,267 --> 00:42:37,799
An SS was in our wagon. 

441
00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:40,566
And we could speak to him and we asked him. 

442
00:42:40,567 --> 00:42:45,166
"Where are we going?" "No idea," he said. 

443
00:42:45,167 --> 00:42:50,799
Even they didn't know where the transport was going. 

444
00:42:50,800 --> 00:42:58,999
So we traveled longer at night, shorter during the day. 

445
00:42:59,000 --> 00:43:04,632
During the day we waited on the tracks at a station or somewhere outside. 

446
00:43:04,633 --> 00:43:08,399
And when it was dark, we picked up speed.

447
00:43:08,400 --> 00:43:13,732
Then we moved 10 km forward, then 10 km back again. 

448
00:43:13,733 --> 00:43:15,599
It went on like that for five days. 

449
00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:26,132
So we arrived on April 9 at the familiar spot: at the Zeitz station. 

450
00:43:26,133 --> 00:43:31,232
That was afternoon, around two, three o'clock. 

451
00:43:31,233 --> 00:43:32,766
We arrived. 

452
00:43:32,767 --> 00:43:35,566
We were standing on the first track. 

453
00:43:35,567 --> 00:43:41,066
And the empty petrol wagons were standing on the other tracks. 

454
00:43:41,067 --> 00:43:53,066
But there were many because the bombing was in January, the empty wagons arrived and couldn't be filled, filled up. 

455
00:43:53,067 --> 00:43:54,999
So they stayed there. 

456
00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:57,832
And the American airplanes arrived. 

457
00:43:57,833 --> 00:43:59,666
They saw from above. 

458
00:43:59,667 --> 00:44:03,266
Four fighter planes. 

459
00:44:03,267 --> 00:44:08,632
And the four fighter planes saw: they are an excellent target. 

460
00:44:08,633 --> 00:44:16,466
And they flew down, bombing everything, with guns on top of it. 

461
00:44:16,467 --> 00:44:19,932
Back again, so back, back again. 

462
00:44:19,933 --> 00:44:25,099
This bombing lasted for twenty minutes. 

463
00:44:25,100 --> 00:44:34,766
In my wagon we were maybe 50, 60 people on top of each other, doing like this... 

464
00:44:34,767 --> 00:44:38,466
We got so much shrapnel. 

465
00:44:38,467 --> 00:44:41,999
90% in the wagon was dead. 

466
00:44:42,000 --> 00:44:44,332
Even the SS.

467
00:44:44,333 --> 00:44:47,232
All dead. From the shrapnel. 

468
00:44:47,233 --> 00:44:52,999
I was standing in a large group like this. 

469
00:44:53,000 --> 00:44:58,299
And when the bombing was over I saw, he is dead, he is dead. 

470
00:44:58,300 --> 00:45:01,266
He is dead. Isn't moving. He either. 

471
00:45:01,267 --> 00:45:03,599
I wanted to get out. 

472
00:45:03,600 --> 00:45:05,399
But I couldn't. 

473
00:45:05,400 --> 00:45:09,799
For one, because they were lying on me. One on top of the other.

474
00:45:09,800 --> 00:45:14,332
And secondly, because...I couldn't get my foot out. 

475
00:45:14,333 --> 00:45:18,332
So I tried to get the left foot out. 

476
00:45:18,333 --> 00:45:23,866
And then I noticed that my foot was torn off. 

477
00:45:23,867 --> 00:45:27,899
Here in the back, a piece of skin was still attached. 

478
00:45:27,900 --> 00:45:31,899
So it was hanging. 

479
00:45:31,900 --> 00:45:35,266
So that lasted about a minute. 

480
00:45:35,267 --> 00:45:39,899
And the others noticed, the ones that were still alive. 

481
00:45:39,900 --> 00:45:43,632
And they quickly opened the wagon door. 

482
00:45:43,633 --> 00:45:46,232
And sat me over there. 

483
00:45:46,233 --> 00:45:52,766
I held it here so that the blood wouldn't run out. 

484
00:45:52,767 --> 00:45:58,799
And...the prisoners came and the SS soldiers came, helped. 

485
00:45:58,800 --> 00:46:02,999
Took my shirt sleeve off. 

486
00:46:03,000 --> 00:46:08,399
And with it we made a...a bandage. 

487
00:46:08,400 --> 00:46:13,399
So the blood slowly stopped. 

488
00:46:13,400 --> 00:46:15,699
But what should we do with it?

489
00:46:15,700 --> 00:46:18,666
Everyone did like this. It...

490
00:46:18,667 --> 00:46:22,499
No one had ever seen anything like it. 

491
00:46:22,500 --> 00:46:27,166
And the SS, a humane SS, came to me.  

492
00:46:27,167 --> 00:46:30,032
Asked me if it hurt.

493
00:46:30,033 --> 00:46:34,866
I said.. "No. I don't feel anything at all."

494
00:46:34,867 --> 00:46:38,666
I hadn't noticed that it was torn off. 

495
00:46:38,667 --> 00:46:47,899
I don't feel anything..so...it was such a shock that the nerves suddenly...were not working. 

496
00:46:47,900 --> 00:46:49,599
Not at all. 

497
00:46:49,600 --> 00:46:54,499
And then he asked if I felt that in back, this skin. 

498
00:46:54,500 --> 00:46:55,999
No.

499
00:46:56,000 --> 00:47:02,332
He took his pocketknife and cut it off. 

500
00:47:02,333 --> 00:47:06,199
There were a lot of prisoners there. 

501
00:47:06,200 --> 00:47:08,999
And they held me.

502
00:47:09,000 --> 00:47:18,666
And a Red Cross group with doctors and First Aid wanted to come. 

503
00:47:18,667 --> 00:47:20,832
But they weren't allowed to come to us. 

504
00:47:20,833 --> 00:47:22,399
They had said "no."

505
00:47:22,400 --> 00:47:28,332
They saw that it was a big problem, but they didn't let them come there. 

506
00:47:28,333 --> 00:47:32,466
I said to the SS who had cut it off:

507
00:47:32,467 --> 00:47:41,566
"Please, please bandage and then I can wrap everything, maybe there is some."

508
00:47:41,567 --> 00:47:46,166
He left and came back with a large amount. 

509
00:47:46,167 --> 00:47:51,099
W...Me and my comrades, who were there, and he helped too. 

510
00:47:51,100 --> 00:47:53,632
We wrapped it up. 

511
00:47:53,633 --> 00:47:56,732
But I have to say...I don't know if you know. 

512
00:47:56,733 --> 00:48:01,499
At that time the bandages were made of paper. 

513
00:48:01,500 --> 00:48:07,099
And this paper was soaked with blood in five minutes. 

514
00:48:07,100 --> 00:48:14,899
So with this stub, soaked through with blood...I made it to Flossenbürg. 

515
00:48:14,900 --> 00:48:17,932
Without medical care.

516
00:48:17,933 --> 00:48:20,499
I did get one help. 

517
00:48:20,500 --> 00:48:22,332
The SS was dead. 

518
00:48:22,333 --> 00:48:26,832
They took his coat, and gave it to me. 

519
00:48:26,833 --> 00:48:30,999
Wrapped me in it, that is how they set me down.

520
00:48:31,000 --> 00:48:40,332
And that is how I endured until I arrived here in Flossenbürg on April 14. 

521
00:48:40,333 --> 00:48:46,266
But I didn't arrive in FLossenbürg, but in Slovakia, in Tachau. 

522
00:48:46,267 --> 00:48:50,466
Tachau is around 8 or 10 kilometers from here. 

523
00:48:50,467 --> 00:48:53,399
But across the border. 

524
00:48:53,400 --> 00:48:58,232
Because the...railway line there was...not destroyed. 

525
00:48:58,233 --> 00:49:01,332
That's why they brought us there. 

526
00:49:01,333 --> 00:49:07,899
The ones who could walk, they were accompanied through the woods to Flossenbürg. 

527
00:49:07,900 --> 00:49:16,099
The seriously ill, like me...they were transport in cars, trucks that were there. 

528
00:49:16,100 --> 00:49:21,999
They laid me down on it and brought me through the woods to Flossenbürg. 

529
00:49:22,000 --> 00:49:30,266
My worst journey was from Tachau to Flossenbürg, on the dirt road through the woods. 

530
00:49:30,267 --> 00:49:37,132
Because I was already in pain but this transport, unforgettable. 

531
00:49:37,133 --> 00:49:45,366
Never in my life have I had such...pain as I did then on that trip. 

532
00:49:45,367 --> 00:49:47,499
I arrived in the sick station. 

533
00:49:47,500 --> 00:49:51,332
They left us at the sick station.

534
00:49:51,333 --> 00:49:53,732
A male nurse arrived. 

535
00:49:53,733 --> 00:49:57,499
His name was Janos Bergmann

536
00:49:57,500 --> 00:50:01,632
We found his name today on the list. 

537
00:50:01,633 --> 00:50:05,832
He asked in German what nationality I am. 

538
00:50:05,833 --> 00:50:07,699
I said Hungarian. 

539
00:50:07,700 --> 00:50:08,866
He was Hungarian too. 

540
00:50:08,867 --> 00:50:12,132
Then we started to speak Hungarian. 

541
00:50:12,133 --> 00:50:14,066
He asked me where I came from. 

542
00:50:14,067 --> 00:50:15,932
I said: "from Buchenwald." 

543
00:50:15,933 --> 00:50:17,799
"And what happened to you?"

544
00:50:17,800 --> 00:50:20,532
I said: "We were bombed." 

545
00:50:20,533 --> 00:50:23,166
"And that was done by doctors?" "No.

546
00:50:23,167 --> 00:50:25,199
No doctor has seen this. 

547
00:50:25,200 --> 00:50:29,399
It is just as it was after the bombing."

548
00:50:29,400 --> 00:50:34,199
Then he took it off. It stunk. 

549
00:50:34,200 --> 00:50:39,799
This piece that hadn't gotten any blood for five days. 

550
00:50:39,800 --> 00:50:45,266
Can you imagine, with all the blood, with everything, it stunk. 

551
00:50:45,267 --> 00:50:53,432
He took me right to the bath, washed me and brought me right to the OP.

552
00:50:53,433 --> 00:51:00,999
And here in the OP was a doctor, if I remember, his name was Dr. Pollack. 

553
00:51:01,000 --> 00:51:03,566
And he amputated me. 

554
00:51:03,567 --> 00:51:12,099
And I fell asleep in narcosis after the bath, and woke up a day later. 

555
00:51:12,100 --> 00:51:14,866
And then my leg was cut off here. 

556
00:51:14,867 --> 00:51:18,499
A little bit higher than where it had been bound. 

557
00:51:18,500 --> 00:51:21,032
Cut off a bit further. 

558
00:51:21,033 --> 00:51:26,232
But it was done very well medically.

559
00:51:26,233 --> 00:51:30,832
But I weighed 34 kilograms. 

560
00:51:30,833 --> 00:51:38,432
I had caught a cold again from the short journey from the bombing to Tachau. 

561
00:51:38,433 --> 00:51:50,999
So I had pleurisy again, had pneumonia and was very weak after this operation. 

562
00:51:51,000 --> 00:51:56,832
So they had to put me in the sick station right away. 

563
00:51:56,833 --> 00:51:59,332
I got a very good bed. 

564
00:51:59,333 --> 00:52:01,799
I had a bed for me alone. 

565
00:52:01,800 --> 00:52:06,832
The last time I had my own bed was before Auschwitz. 

566
00:52:06,833 --> 00:52:16,099
Then we were...one moment...let's take a short break. 

567
00:52:16,100 --> 00:52:18,366
CM: Yes, rolling again. Thanks. 

568
00:52:18,367 --> 00:52:25,366
IH: Yes, so after the operation, as I just said, I was given my own bed. 

569
00:52:25,367 --> 00:52:30,399
Bergmann took care of all that...for me.  

570
00:52:30,400 --> 00:52:33,666
And I was lying there for a day, 

571
00:52:33,667 --> 00:52:38,566
And then the evacuation began, here in Flossenbürg too. 

572
00:52:38,567 --> 00:52:40,899
And again it started with the Jews. 

573
00:52:40,900 --> 00:52:45,832
First the Jews were to gather at the roll call grounds. 

574
00:52:45,833 --> 00:52:57,332
And early in the morning they took me out of the sick station and to the roll call grounds just in a shirt, the way I had been in bed. 

575
00:52:57,333 --> 00:53:03,132
Taken out of the bed, brought to the roll call grounds, laid me down there.  

576
00:53:03,133 --> 00:53:04,999
That was it. 

577
00:53:05,000 --> 00:53:08,566
But that was a cold morning. 

578
00:53:08,567 --> 00:53:10,332
And I was freezing. 

579
00:53:10,333 --> 00:53:15,266
There may have been frost because it was April. 

580
00:53:15,267 --> 00:53:23,332
And since it was cold, I kept sliding back a little, a little more. 

581
00:53:23,333 --> 00:53:29,199
Because some 10 or 15 meters behind was a large building. 

582
00:53:29,200 --> 00:53:33,399
And I wanted to lean on the wall. 

583
00:53:33,400 --> 00:53:36,499
So I slid, slid, slid.

584
00:53:36,500 --> 00:53:40,999
And a prisoner came from the right. 

585
00:53:41,000 --> 00:53:47,499
A healthy, good... a Ukraine, as I later learned. 

586
00:53:47,500 --> 00:53:51,266
And he asked me: We're you going, comrade?"

587
00:53:51,267 --> 00:53:54,032
I said: "To the sick station." 

588
00:53:54,033 --> 00:53:58,499
He took me, brought me to the sick station. 

589
00:53:58,500 --> 00:54:04,832
In the meantime, all the people...had begun the death march. 

590
00:54:04,833 --> 00:54:11,566
The sick people managed 10 kilometers, all in the mass grave. 

591
00:54:11,567 --> 00:54:16,332
And I went back to the sick station and Bergmann asked: 

592
00:54:16,333 --> 00:54:19,532
"Why are you here again?"

593
00:54:19,533 --> 00:54:25,166
I lied: "They sent me here." 

594
00:54:25,167 --> 00:54:30,632
He said...he hid me in his own room. 

595
00:54:30,633 --> 00:54:32,999
He had an office. 

596
00:54:33,000 --> 00:54:36,999
He put me in his own bed, closed the door. 

597
00:54:37,000 --> 00:54:44,166
He said if they do a control or someone checks around, they shouldn't find me. 

598
00:54:44,167 --> 00:54:50,832
I laid there for a day and then he brought me back to my own bed. 

599
00:54:50,833 --> 00:54:55,566
And we stayed there until the Americans came. 

600
00:54:55,567 --> 00:55:02,066
But I have to say that it wasn't the Americans who liberated us. 

601
00:55:02,067 --> 00:55:05,832
The Russians came, early morning. 

602
00:55:05,833 --> 00:55:12,699
Two Russian soldiers came into our room with machine guns. 

603
00:55:12,700 --> 00:55:17,566
They were looking for Germans. 

604
00:55:17,567 --> 00:55:30,832
And in my room there were three Slavic - I'm not sure Serbian or Bulgarian - people, sick and they spoke with the Russians. 

605
00:55:30,833 --> 00:55:34,932
Because the Slavic languages are similar. 

606
00:55:34,933 --> 00:55:41,866
And said who we were and where they were because they didn't know where they were.  

607
00:55:41,867 --> 00:55:46,166
And then they learned that they were already in Germany. 

608
00:55:46,167 --> 00:55:53,299
Because the border was there, two kilometers, and they were only allowed to go as far as the border. 

609
00:55:53,300 --> 00:55:57,399
So they disappeared after a hour. 

610
00:55:57,400 --> 00:56:01,399
And the Americans arrived in the afternoon. 

611
00:56:01,400 --> 00:56:04,066
So I was liberated twice. 

612
00:56:04,067 --> 00:56:09,599
Once in the morning by the Russians and once in the afternoon by the Americans. 

613
00:56:09,600 --> 00:56:18,832
And the Americans called right away for ambulances, brought penicilin and lots of medicine right away. 

614
00:56:18,833 --> 00:56:28,866
So that the atmosphere became normal after a few days and there was everything that the sick needed. 

615
00:56:28,867 --> 00:56:37,699
We had come so far that we were given food and drink. 

616
00:56:37,700 --> 00:56:48,099
When...with the evacuiation they forgot to give food and drink, because everything was empty. 

617
00:56:48,100 --> 00:56:56,032
Everyone was gone, only the people in the sick station were there. So...

618
00:56:56,033 --> 00:56:59,832
My friend made me tea, once, twice.

619
00:56:59,833 --> 00:57:04,999
And had also brought something, so that I did get something. 

620
00:57:05,000 --> 00:57:06,866
Uh...Bergmann. 

621
00:57:06,867 --> 00:57:10,232
So we were there for a few days. 

622
00:57:10,233 --> 00:57:16,999
And then Bergmann arranged that an American doctor came and examined me. 

623
00:57:17,000 --> 00:57:25,566
And he determined that I had pneumonia, freshly amputated, which was a big deal.

624
00:57:25,567 --> 00:57:31,032
Pleurisy, full of water in back.

625
00:57:31,033 --> 00:57:38,099
And noticed that my feet and hands, everything full of water. 

626
00:57:38,100 --> 00:57:41,499
My kidneys weren't working. 

627
00:57:41,500 --> 00:57:45,999
So then they said, this is no good here.

628
00:57:46,000 --> 00:57:55,266
After a few days they brought us to the SS..I'm not sure...apartment or SS barracks. 

629
00:57:55,267 --> 00:58:02,366
And in the SS barracks I was immediately given a German nurse. 

630
00:58:02,367 --> 00:58:05,866
She was called Sister Mariann.

631
00:58:05,867 --> 00:58:09,166
And she took care of me day and night. 

632
00:58:09,167 --> 00:58:10,799
I was given grapefruit. 

633
00:58:10,800 --> 00:58:18,432
I had to drink every half hour...a feeding cup from this...liquid. 

634
00:58:18,433 --> 00:58:21,366
Was very good, full of vitamins. 

635
00:58:21,367 --> 00:58:23,566
They brought food too. 

636
00:58:23,567 --> 00:58:27,666
And prescribed a very strict diet. 

637
00:58:27,667 --> 00:58:30,232
No salt for a whole month. 

638
00:58:30,233 --> 00:58:33,832
No salt at all in the food I was given. 

639
00:58:33,833 --> 00:58:40,832
So that was my first ...how can I say...impressions of Flossenbürg. 

640
00:58:40,833 --> 00:58:44,832
I was there, I think for another three or four weeks. 

641
00:58:44,833 --> 00:58:51,732
And then they brought us to Weiden, to the municipal hospital. 

642
00:58:51,733 --> 00:58:59,599
They put us in a large room In the municipal hospital where there were 10 patients. 

643
00:58:59,600 --> 00:59:03,166
We were four people who were put in there.

644
00:59:03,167 --> 00:59:05,132
And there were six Germans. 

645
00:59:05,133 --> 00:59:11,499
But the Americans wanted us to have better food. 

646
00:59:11,500 --> 00:59:14,832
We should have better medicine. 

647
00:59:14,833 --> 00:59:19,332
They got us everything, but not for the Germans. 

648
00:59:19,333 --> 00:59:28,332
That is why it was very...problematic that the Germans and the foreigners should be in the same room. 

649
00:59:28,333 --> 00:59:33,499
Then they did it differently. 

650
00:59:33,500 --> 00:59:44,632
And...they set up a special hospital for foreigners in Weiden, a DP hospital. 

651
00:59:44,633 --> 00:59:48,132
And that was in the Weiden Lyceum. 

652
00:59:48,133 --> 00:59:50,499
On Martin-Luther-Strasse. 

653
00:59:50,500 --> 00:59:55,766
I stayed there for a year after the liberation. 

654
00:59:55,767 --> 01:00:03,232
I was there until May '46.

655
01:00:03,233 --> 01:00:07,332
I brought many documents with me. {clears throat}

656
01:00:07,333 --> 01:00:11,499
From Weiden too, that I had registered. 

657
01:00:11,500 --> 01:00:16,732
They also wrote where I had come from, from Flossenbürg. 

658
01:00:16,733 --> 01:00:22,666
And what number I had in Buchenwald. 64823.

659
01:00:22,667 --> 01:00:30,332
So it is all in my documents that I just gave to the lady there. 

660
01:00:30,333 --> 01:00:35,866
And I also have a picture of Sister Mariann, who took care of me. 

661
01:00:35,867 --> 01:00:39,866
And she wrote on the back: 

662
01:00:39,867 --> 01:00:48,166
"To Stefan. To this time. Was my patient in Flossenbürg camp and in Weiden." 

663
01:00:48,167 --> 01:00:51,266
And I just showed this picture. 

664
01:00:51,267 --> 01:00:56,732
And everyone looked. After 60 years I still have this picture. 

665
01:00:56,733 --> 01:01:02,066
And they made lots of copies, because Anna Andlauer wants to search. 

666
01:01:02,067 --> 01:01:04,866
Maybe Mariann is still alive.

667
01:01:04,867 --> 01:01:07,999
But I don't know anything else about Mariann. 

668
01:01:08,000 --> 01:01:12,132
Just that she was from Göttingen. 

669
01:01:12,133 --> 01:01:17,999
And she was, she learned at the medical university in Göttingen.  

670
01:01:18,000 --> 01:01:23,166
And so she became a nurse during the war. 

671
01:01:23,167 --> 01:01:26,832
That I know. I don't know anything else. 

672
01:01:26,833 --> 01:01:34,899
So I was in Weiden... all of '45.

673
01:01:34,900 --> 01:01:40,199
With the stump that was amputated in Flossenbürg. 

674
01:01:40,200 --> 01:01:49,299
They saw on an X-ray that a small tip from the bone remained. 

675
01:01:49,300 --> 01:01:52,499
And that had to be operated. 

676
01:01:52,500 --> 01:01:59,066
But my physical condition was such that ...better not to touch if possible. 

677
01:01:59,067 --> 01:02:01,799
They said, it stays. 

678
01:02:01,800 --> 01:02:06,866
If necessary, then it will be done. 

679
01:02:06,867 --> 01:02:16,732
In December 1945 it was cankerous and since it was cankerous it had to be operated within two days. 

680
01:02:16,733 --> 01:02:20,499
They operated on me three days before Christmas.

681
01:02:20,500 --> 01:02:25,832
And noticed that the bone is very soft. 

682
01:02:25,833 --> 01:02:29,732
Could cut it with a ...knife. 

683
01:02:29,733 --> 01:02:40,666
So it was amputated further, all that was soft, they cut off up to the middle of my thigh. 

684
01:02:40,667 --> 01:02:44,232
That was December '45.

685
01:02:44,233 --> 01:02:49,799
Then I recovered very fast. 

686
01:02:49,800 --> 01:02:56,599
In February, March I was already able to walk on my own in the city with crutches. 

687
01:02:56,600 --> 01:03:00,999
And it was the Jewish Easter.

688
01:03:01,000 --> 01:03:03,232
I don't know if you know.

689
01:03:03,233 --> 01:03:08,099
Very similar to the Catholic Easter.

690
01:03:08,100 --> 01:03:14,332
But the Jewish Easter has the very strict rule that one is not allowed to eat bread for eight days.  

691
01:03:14,333 --> 01:03:16,666
Only Matzoh.

692
01:03:16,667 --> 01:03:26,732
And it begins with a very big supper, which for Christ was the last supper. 

693
01:03:26,733 --> 01:03:35,666
And this supper is ceremonial, religious...done with strict rules.

694
01:03:35,667 --> 01:03:40,566
In Weiden there was a Jewish committee and a Jewish society.

695
01:03:40,567 --> 01:03:44,999
And they knew that two Jews were lying in the Lyceum. 

696
01:03:45,000 --> 01:03:50,166
They invited us and brought us there. 

697
01:03:50,167 --> 01:03:54,166
It was a very good group, mostly Poles.

698
01:03:54,167 --> 01:03:59,032
There were also Slovaks...no Hungarians. 

699
01:03:59,033 --> 01:04:04,566
And there were Lithuanians, and from Latvia, from Estonia. A mixed group. 

700
01:04:04,567 --> 01:04:10,266
But it was a religious festive evening. 

701
01:04:10,267 --> 01:04:18,466
At one moment a strapping Polish boy sat next to me and asks: 

702
01:04:18,467 --> 01:04:19,332
"How are you?"

703
01:04:19,333 --> 01:04:23,166
I say: "It's getting better." 

704
01:04:23,167 --> 01:04:26,166
He says: "Where had you come from back then?"

705
01:04:26,167 --> 01:04:29,032
I said: "From Buchenwald"

706
01:04:29,033 --> 01:04:32,332
"Buchenwald. Yes. And was Buchenwald bombed?"

707
01:04:32,333 --> 01:04:35,999
"Yes," I said. "It was bombed." 

708
01:04:36,000 --> 01:04:38,066
"Is that where you lost your foot?"

709
01:04:38,067 --> 01:04:42,166
"Yes," I said. "I was there." 

710
01:04:42,167 --> 01:04:49,399
"I held your shoulder when your leg was cut with the knife."

711
01:04:49,400 --> 01:04:54,832
"And as long as I live I will never forget that."

712
01:04:54,833 --> 01:04:58,366
"I have never in my life seen anything like that." 

713
01:04:58,367 --> 01:05:07,832
And he said: "That you are alive, that you are here, that is a miracle. That is a miracle," he said. 

714
01:05:07,833 --> 01:05:15,166
And as a Pole he had good...connections to Regensburg. 

715
01:05:15,167 --> 01:05:17,066
The Joint was there. 

716
01:05:17,067 --> 01:05:23,066
Joint was the Jewish aid organization from America. 

717
01:05:23,067 --> 01:05:28,799
There was the UNRRA. The UNRRA was from the United Nations. 

718
01:05:28,800 --> 01:05:36,499
And the Joint was extra for the Jewish prisoners, former prisoners and they gave a lot of help. 

719
01:05:36,500 --> 01:05:42,332
Packages every month...organized and sent clothes.

720
01:05:42,333 --> 01:05:44,999
And they helped with a lot. 

721
01:05:45,000 --> 01:05:53,399
This Pole had connections to the Joint director in Regensburg. 

722
01:05:53,400 --> 01:06:00,799
Because the Regensburg Joint director...his parents came from Poland. 

723
01:06:00,800 --> 01:06:04,332
But he had been born in America. 

724
01:06:04,333 --> 01:06:19,099
He told him all about me and six weeks later two officers from the Joint came to the director in our hospital.

725
01:06:19,100 --> 01:06:25,166
And they asked about my health...condition. 

726
01:06:25,167 --> 01:06:31,766
If it is possible that they could build a prosthesis. 

727
01:06:31,767 --> 01:06:34,466
They said that yes, that was possible. 

728
01:06:34,467 --> 01:06:40,232
But I would absolutely have to have good care. 

729
01:06:40,233 --> 01:06:49,999
And it was organized so that if I didn't feel good I could lie down. 

730
01:06:50,000 --> 01:06:54,999
So the Joint organized that in May. 

731
01:06:55,000 --> 01:06:58,332
So I was released from Weiden in May. 

732
01:06:58,333 --> 01:07:01,366
And they brought me to Regensburg. 

733
01:07:01,367 --> 01:07:05,699
In my apartment I was given a very nice room. 

734
01:07:05,700 --> 01:07:12,566
And the food came from the Jewish committee...I went there every afternoon and every evening.

735
01:07:12,567 --> 01:07:14,699
I received food there. 

736
01:07:14,700 --> 01:07:21,999
And I was given the address and they took me to the place where artificial limbs were made. 

737
01:07:22,000 --> 01:07:25,699
So I went there every day with the streetcar. 

738
01:07:25,700 --> 01:07:29,999
And they helped me a lot there. 

739
01:07:30,000 --> 01:07:33,666
So that a good prosthesis would be made. 

740
01:07:33,667 --> 01:07:36,999
I don't want to talk a lot about it. 

741
01:07:37,000 --> 01:07:39,766
I learned how to walk there. 

742
01:07:39,767 --> 01:07:46,832
It was a walking school. To learn how to kick, how to walk up stairs, how to walk down stairs. 

743
01:07:46,833 --> 01:07:51,666
Because that is a serious problem when you don't have your own knee. 

744
01:07:51,667 --> 01:07:54,399
And I didn't have my own knee. 

745
01:07:54,400 --> 01:07:59,132
So I went their every day for six weeks. 

746
01:07:59,133 --> 01:08:02,366
After six weeks my prosthesis was ready. 

747
01:08:02,367 --> 01:08:06,199
Then I met with Mr. Levine. 

748
01:08:06,200 --> 01:08:08,332
The director of the Joint. 

749
01:08:08,333 --> 01:08:13,766
I said: "I am done. What happens now?"

750
01:08:13,767 --> 01:08:17,566
He said: "Stefan, there are two possibilities."

751
01:08:17,567 --> 01:08:31,166
You can go back to Weiden to the hospital or there is a children's camp not far from here near Ansbach in Strüth. 

752
01:08:31,167 --> 01:08:33,499
There are Hungarian children there. 

753
01:08:33,500 --> 01:08:37,232
You could fit in there if you wanted

754
01:08:37,233 --> 01:08:40,566
You could be together with other children. 

755
01:08:40,567 --> 01:08:47,166
But if you don't want that you can also stay there and not be a part of this group. 

756
01:08:47,167 --> 01:08:49,199
I said: "I want that."

757
01:08:49,200 --> 01:09:03,166
I want to go there and remain an individual person who can decide for himself what he wants to do and what not. 

758
01:09:03,167 --> 01:09:09,366
So I arrived in Strüth, that was in June 1946. 

759
01:09:09,367 --> 01:09:13,699
I was there in June, July, August. 

760
01:09:13,700 --> 01:09:16,999
I made very good friends with the people. 

761
01:09:17,000 --> 01:09:19,532
I was given my own room. 

762
01:09:19,533 --> 01:09:25,532
The others were together...five, six people in a room. 

763
01:09:25,533 --> 01:09:28,999
I did a lot together with the other children. 

764
01:09:29,000 --> 01:09:33,266
But the children went off to do farm work. 

765
01:09:33,267 --> 01:09:43,732
Because they all wanted to go to Israel and wanted to prepare themselves so that they knew how to work on the land. 

766
01:09:43,733 --> 01:09:46,899
So I helped a lot. 

767
01:09:46,900 --> 01:09:52,032
I was the connection between the group and the Americans. 

768
01:09:52,033 --> 01:09:58,232
Because I could speak German well at that thime and I could even speak a little English. 

769
01:09:58,233 --> 01:10:10,499
Because I always heard English from the Americans and from the Joint employees, so I began to undersand, I learned it.

770
01:10:10,500 --> 01:10:18,032
So I was very useful to them, I was a great help. 

771
01:10:18,033 --> 01:10:23,766
And then they noticed that some of us were over 17 years old. 

772
01:10:23,767 --> 01:10:27,432
In 1946 I was already 17 years old too. 

773
01:10:27,433 --> 01:10:31,166
And all the others were mixed. 

774
01:10:31,167 --> 01:10:34,666
Some were 14, others were 17.

775
01:10:34,667 --> 01:10:40,799
So they said we are 25 children over 16. 

776
01:10:40,800 --> 01:10:45,766
We are going to take a trip, they said, an excursion.. 

777
01:10:45,767 --> 01:10:48,099
They asked me if I wanted to come too. 

778
01:10:48,100 --> 01:10:51,166
Yes, I'd like to go with you," I said. 

779
01:10:51,167 --> 01:10:56,132
I helped with getting the tickets...in Ansbach. 

780
01:10:56,133 --> 01:11:00,599
And...traveled from Asbach to Munich, and transferred in Munich.

781
01:11:00,600 --> 01:11:04,332
We traveled to the Indersdorf cloister.

782
01:11:04,333 --> 01:11:07,999
So we arrived in the Indersdorf cloister...we lied. 

783
01:11:08,000 --> 01:11:11,032
We said we came from Budapest.

784
01:11:11,033 --> 01:11:12,566
From Hungary.

785
01:11:12,567 --> 01:11:15,466
There were many Hungarian boys there.

786
01:11:15,467 --> 01:11:24,599
And so these 20, 25 Hungarian children also went in, into this large group.

787
01:11:24,600 --> 01:11:29,566
So I was there for another six weeks. 

788
01:11:29,567 --> 01:11:38,632
But a medical commission came and examined everyone, to give us medical care.

789
01:11:38,633 --> 01:11:42,466
They knew right away that I had pleurisy again...wet.

790
01:11:42,467 --> 01:11:47,599
And that can lead to high fever.

791
01:11:47,600 --> 01:11:51,566
And they said I have to go to the hospital.

792
01:11:51,567 --> 01:11:56,499
They brought me to Gauting near Munich.

793
01:11:56,500 --> 01:11:59,799
There was a large sanatorium in Gauting.

794
01:11:59,800 --> 01:12:02,166
I was there for four weeks.

795
01:12:02,167 --> 01:12:05,132
They did a major examination.

796
01:12:05,133 --> 01:12:11,166
They determined that I did not have a contagious tuberculosis.

797
01:12:11,167 --> 01:12:13,499
I had a shadow on the lung.

798
01:12:13,500 --> 01:12:15,999
And I had this wet pleura.

799
01:12:16,000 --> 01:12:18,999
But I didn't really need treatment.

800
01:12:19,000 --> 01:12:24,566
That's why they sent me to get fresh air in Bad Wörishofen.

801
01:12:24,567 --> 01:12:29,766
And there was a large children's sanatorium in Bad Wörishofen.

802
01:12:29,767 --> 01:12:33,232
Only children with lung diseases were there. 

803
01:12:33,233 --> 01:12:36,999
But not serious cases. The serious cases stayed in Gauting. 

804
01:12:37,000 --> 01:12:47,432
So just the ones that needed better air, good care and ... the good opportunities...they were all in Bad Wörishofen.

805
01:12:47,433 --> 01:12:58,499
So I stayed there from late October 1946 until late November 1947.

806
01:12:58,500 --> 01:13:00,832
And I recovered totally. 

807
01:13:00,833 --> 01:13:08,766
Since I was treated there and checked every week in Bad Wörishofen, 

808
01:13:08,767 --> 01:13:16,832
I had no more problems with my lungs and my pleura until today. 

809
01:13:16,833 --> 01:13:23,666
So that is my story, that has to do with the liberation. 

810
01:13:23,667 --> 01:13:28,799
Because later, in November, I returned to Hungary. 

811
01:13:28,800 --> 01:13:36,132
Because I learned that my brother was still alive, and two of my mother's sisters. 

812
01:13:36,133 --> 01:13:39,366
And they took me, they called. 

813
01:13:39,367 --> 01:13:43,999
"Stefan, come to Budapest. We will help you." 

814
01:13:44,000 --> 01:13:46,566
And they really did help alot. 

815
01:13:46,567 --> 01:13:53,699
And the next year in March I began working in the film studio, with the film laboratory. 

816
01:13:53,700 --> 01:13:59,399
So I worked there for 43 years. 

817
01:13:59,400 --> 01:14:03,332
And I went into retirement from there. 

818
01:14:03,333 --> 01:14:14,666
1992, January 1 I became a real pensioner. 

819
01:14:14,667 --> 01:14:17,932
That is my life, in short summary. 

820
01:14:17,933 --> 01:14:22,132
IV: Let's take a short break. I would like to ask a few things about Hungary...

821
01:14:22,133 --> 01:14:23,666
IH: Yes, we can continue... 

822
01:14:23,667 --> 01:14:25,666
IV:...a short break. A sip. 

823
01:14:25,667 --> 01:14:31,032
IH: Before World War I, Hungarian-Austrian monarchy. 

824
01:14:31,033 --> 01:14:35,699
And the official language was German.

825
01:14:35,700 --> 01:14:40,232
My father was an officer in World War I.

826
01:14:40,233 --> 01:14:45,366
But even in the military they only spoke German. 

827
01:14:45,367 --> 01:14:48,566
So I heard a lot of German. 

828
01:14:48,567 --> 01:14:54,832
My mother and grandmother spoke German with each other. 

829
01:14:54,833 --> 01:15:01,599
I never spoke German but I heard it.

830
01:15:01,600 --> 01:15:05,532
And in school we started to learn German. 

831
01:15:05,533 --> 01:15:08,566
But that wasn't much. 

832
01:15:08,567 --> 01:15:13,532
In Auschwitz, I really heard it for the first time, 

833
01:15:13,533 --> 01:15:21,632
because everyone who came before the commission was asked: "How old?"

834
01:15:21,633 --> 01:15:22,766
IV: And then one had to speak German. 

835
01:15:22,767 --> 01:15:26,066
IH: My father said: "You should say 16."

836
01:15:26,067 --> 01:15:27,766
I said "16."

837
01:15:27,767 --> 01:15:30,166
"Good, you can go." 

838
01:15:30,167 --> 01:15:34,466
Because uh, we didn't know why. 

839
01:15:34,467 --> 01:15:39,799
Later we learned that anyone under 16 was sent to the gas. 

840
01:15:39,800 --> 01:15:42,332
They are children, they said. 

841
01:15:42,333 --> 01:15:45,666
And I was 15 in Buchenwald. 

842
01:15:45,667 --> 01:15:56,032
I wasn't 15 yet when I uh....came to Auschwitz, yes, that was later. 

843
01:15:56,033 --> 01:15:57,832
IV: Shall we go on?

844
01:15:57,833 --> 01:15:58,699
CM: Yes, it's already rolling. 

845
01:15:58,700 --> 01:15:59,766
IV: It's already rolling. OK. I didn't know. 

846
01:15:59,767 --> 01:16:03,199
IH: So I learned simply from listening. 

847
01:16:03,200 --> 01:16:06,132
I never learned the grammar. 

848
01:16:06,133 --> 01:16:14,332
All that I can, I put together by myself, from what I had heard. 

849
01:16:14,333 --> 01:16:21,432
Since in recent years, for the last 12 years, I have been to Germany every year. 

850
01:16:21,433 --> 01:16:27,432
I was given an artificial limb from the pension office. 

851
01:16:27,433 --> 01:16:31,499
And provided the opportunity to recuperate each year. 

852
01:16:31,500 --> 01:16:35,432
And go to a bathing spa every two years. 

853
01:16:35,433 --> 01:16:42,166
But that came to an end in 2010.

854
01:16:42,167 --> 01:16:44,332
They don't want that anymore. 

855
01:16:44,333 --> 01:16:47,732
They said we are foreigners. We are Hungarians. 

856
01:16:47,733 --> 01:16:50,566
Hungary is also part of the European Union. 

857
01:16:50,567 --> 01:16:52,299
They don't pay anymore. 

858
01:16:52,300 --> 01:16:55,766
Now I pay it myself. 

859
01:16:55,767 --> 01:16:58,466
But that is a big strain. 

860
01:16:58,467 --> 01:17:08,399
And I need this bathing spa because since I turned 80 I've had major problems with my healthy leg. 

861
01:17:08,400 --> 01:17:12,166
With my shoulder, with...everything. 

862
01:17:12,167 --> 01:17:22,799
These problems come with age, and can develop more slowly...

863
01:17:22,800 --> 01:17:28,999
when one does some treatments at a bathing spa.

864
01:17:29,000 --> 01:17:32,099
They have gymnastics there, and swimming. 

865
01:17:32,100 --> 01:17:35,366
And electric treatments. 

866
01:17:35,367 --> 01:17:37,999
So this is very important. 

867
01:17:38,000 --> 01:17:52,332
But unfortunately now I have to find an organization and someone who can help me, that the whole burden doesn't fall on me, the whole thing. 

868
01:17:52,333 --> 01:17:58,066
Or someone pays it all or gives something towards it. 

869
01:17:58,067 --> 01:18:01,332
But it is absolutely necessary. 

870
01:18:01,333 --> 01:18:02,999
I have to be honest .

871
01:18:03,000 --> 01:18:05,999
IV: Besides these spas and artificial limb, do you also have...

872
01:18:06,000 --> 01:18:09,499
IM: I don't have any problems with the artificial limb, they still pay that. 

873
01:18:09,500 --> 01:18:13,832
They just don't pay the bathing spa and the recuperation 

874
01:18:13,833 --> 01:18:15,832
Recuperation and ...is over. 

875
01:18:15,833 --> 01:18:25,799
But they give the artificial limb because I am recognized as war-disabled.

876
01:18:25,800 --> 01:18:33,266
For that I get a pair of shoes, prosthesis shoes, every year. 

877
01:18:33,267 --> 01:18:37,566
And if necessary, the doctor examines me. 

878
01:18:37,567 --> 01:18:43,199
And if he says so I have to do a prosthesis repair.

879
01:18:43,200 --> 01:18:45,032
And they pay for this. 

880
01:18:45,033 --> 01:18:48,332
Last year I had a problem. 

881
01:18:48,333 --> 01:18:50,832
I contacted the pension office. 

882
01:18:50,833 --> 01:18:56,632
And said that I need a new upper part, from here to here. 

883
01:18:56,633 --> 01:18:59,332
And they told me...

884
01:18:59,333 --> 01:19:05,766
The doctor...also said that it is absolutely necessary and they paid for it. 

885
01:19:05,767 --> 01:19:08,766
But I paid for the bathing spa. 

886
01:19:08,767 --> 01:19:14,532
IV: Did you receive any other form of compensation from the German state?

887
01:19:14,533 --> 01:19:17,832
Besides these recuperation spas, did they pay compensation?

888
01:19:17,833 --> 01:19:26,566
IH: Yes, now, in recent times I receive a little...money every month. 

889
01:19:26,567 --> 01:19:33,366
Because they determined that I worked in the BRABAG as...

890
01:19:33,367 --> 01:19:43,832
And after the war I was in different hospitals and DP camps for three years in Germany. 

891
01:19:43,833 --> 01:19:55,166
And the people from the insurance, Mitteldeutsche Versicherung Erfurt, also provide support with money. 

892
01:19:55,167 --> 01:19:59,366
So that is why I receive about 200 euros a month.

893
01:19:59,367 --> 01:20:07,666
IV: Mmh. Now I would like to ask you: You just said that you told your story here for the first time. 

894
01:20:07,667 --> 01:20:08,332
IH: Yes. 

895
01:20:08,333 --> 01:20:13,766
IV: On the radio, at the school. And you said in Hungary you never spoke about all those years. 

896
01:20:13,767 --> 01:20:13,999
IH: In Hun...

897
01:20:14,000 --> 01:20:20,999
IV: Can you perhaps say why this was? What the situation was like after the war? For Jewish citizens. 

898
01:20:21,000 --> 01:20:28,099
IH: One has to know that a lot of people returned to Hungary. 

899
01:20:28,100 --> 01:20:34,299
So there were, I don't know how many Jews were in Hungary before. 

900
01:20:34,300 --> 01:20:44,299
I don't know. I only know that 600,000 went to the gas chambers and perished, like my father and like Don. 

901
01:20:44,300 --> 01:20:46,832
I know that. 

902
01:20:46,833 --> 01:20:52,999
I also know that about 20,000 people came back. Jews. 

903
01:20:53,000 --> 01:21:00,999
And these 20,000 Jews, that is quite a lot for a small country like Hungary. 

904
01:21:01,000 --> 01:21:12,399
10 million inhabitants. And 20,000, for a long time the state was not interested in us at all. 

905
01:21:12,400 --> 01:21:22,066
Then somehow in uh '48, '49, negotiations were held with the German authorities. 

906
01:21:22,067 --> 01:21:23,799
But they didn't want to pay. 

907
01:21:23,800 --> 01:21:27,199
Because it was Russian territory. 

908
01:21:27,200 --> 01:21:30,799
And they weren't going to pay anything to the Russians. 

909
01:21:30,800 --> 01:21:37,299
The Hungarian Jewish committee didn't have any money. 

910
01:21:37,300 --> 01:21:43,999
And uh..but it made a list of all the people who were in the camps. 

911
01:21:44,000 --> 01:21:52,399
They had a connection but...they took care of social things. 

912
01:21:52,400 --> 01:21:55,766
We could go to a better hospital. 

913
01:21:55,767 --> 01:22:05,466
They paid the medicine for some, contributed some...money each month.  

914
01:22:05,467 --> 01:22:10,399
So they gave social aid.  

915
01:22:10,400 --> 01:22:13,132
But I worked.

916
01:22:13,133 --> 01:22:20,766
I had a very good job from '48 to '92.

917
01:22:20,767 --> 01:22:26,999
I...I got married, I had a family. 

918
01:22:27,000 --> 01:22:36,732
So I had much better social opportunities than the others who weren't able to work. 

919
01:22:36,733 --> 01:22:41,666
Or who didn't have a specialty or were...didn't have work. 

920
01:22:41,667 --> 01:22:49,232
So I didn't have very close ties to the Jewish community back then. 

921
01:22:49,233 --> 01:22:51,999
I didn't go to church either. 

922
01:22:52,000 --> 01:22:55,566
More than 30 years long. 

923
01:22:55,567 --> 01:23:06,566
Because I thought if there is a God,  how could something like that happen, what happened to us?

924
01:23:06,567 --> 01:23:13,266
Where was God back then when we were in Auschwitz, in Buchenwald, and everywhere?

925
01:23:13,267 --> 01:23:17,566
Where was the God, when I arrived there?

926
01:23:17,567 --> 01:23:24,866
That is why I wasn't in the chur---uh, synagogue for more than 30 years. 

927
01:23:24,867 --> 01:23:28,499
Not in any kind of church. 

928
01:23:28,500 --> 01:23:39,832
From Israel I learned that my friend, the one I lost in Buchenwald, lives in Israel. 

929
01:23:39,833 --> 01:23:42,532
And we got in touch. 

930
01:23:42,533 --> 01:23:45,699
He came to Budapest. 

931
01:23:45,700 --> 01:23:48,999
And we became friends. 

932
01:23:49,000 --> 01:24:01,499
We celebrated our 60th birthdays... together in Israel with my two daughters, not far from Aschkelon. 

933
01:24:01,500 --> 01:24:06,799
So with my friends...everything was okay with us again. 

934
01:24:06,800 --> 01:24:14,999
And afterwards he sent his brother-in-law to Hungary with his daughter. 

935
01:24:15,000 --> 01:24:18,032
Because they had lots of bad teeth. 

936
01:24:18,033 --> 01:24:21,499
And the dentists in Hungary are very cheap. 

937
01:24:21,500 --> 01:24:24,266
And work wonderfully. 

938
01:24:24,267 --> 01:24:34,766
That's why many many people from Austria and from Israel come to Hungary for dental treatment. 

939
01:24:34,767 --> 01:24:42,566
And I helped the people who came, the brother-in-law of my friend. 

940
01:24:42,567 --> 01:24:46,099
That was the brother of his wife. 

941
01:24:46,100 --> 01:24:48,232
The wife was Polish. 

942
01:24:48,233 --> 01:24:54,099
And at that time he said to me...His name was Binhas. 

943
01:24:54,100 --> 01:24:58,766
Binhas said to me: "Tell me, is there a synagogue here somewhere?"

944
01:24:58,767 --> 01:25:01,232
I said: "Yes, In Buda." 

945
01:25:01,233 --> 01:25:03,032
"Let's go there." 

946
01:25:03,033 --> 01:25:05,332
"Hey, listen, I've never been there.  

947
01:25:05,333 --> 01:25:09,566
I only know where it is but I've never been there." 

948
01:25:09,567 --> 01:25:15,999
Then he said: "Yes, Let's go. I am curious," Binhas said. 

949
01:25:16,000 --> 01:25:18,366
I went with him. 

950
01:25:18,367 --> 01:25:22,066
We had an old Rabbi. 

951
01:25:22,067 --> 01:25:26,066
And now we see just how small the world is. 

952
01:25:26,067 --> 01:25:29,499
This rabbi was named Singer. 

953
01:25:29,500 --> 01:25:34,266
And this SInger asks me: "Where are you from?"

954
01:25:34,267 --> 01:25:36,499
"I'm from the Lake Balaton region." 

955
01:25:36,500 --> 01:25:38,866
"Lake Balaton region. And your father?" 

956
01:25:38,867 --> 01:25:41,099
"My father is from Dombóvár.

957
01:25:41,100 --> 01:25:45,099
That's about 60 kilometers from Lake Balaton."

958
01:25:45,100 --> 01:25:50,132
 "Dombóvár. Nice. I went to school in  Dombóvár."

959
01:25:50,133 --> 01:25:52,099
What was your father's name?"

960
01:25:52,100 --> 01:25:55,432
I told him.

961
01:25:55,433 --> 01:26:05,166
"I was invited to your grandparents every Saturday because I was a Jewish pupil." 

962
01:26:05,167 --> 01:26:10,366
Every day I went to a different family and was given lunch." 

963
01:26:10,367 --> 01:26:13,266
I was at your grandparents' every Saturday. 

964
01:26:13,267 --> 01:26:18,132
So we became very good friends.

965
01:26:18,133 --> 01:26:21,999
Since then I go to the synagogue. 

966
01:26:22,000 --> 01:26:24,799
Unfortunately he died. 

967
01:26:24,800 --> 01:26:28,366
But he was such a good friend of mine. 

968
01:26:28,367 --> 01:26:31,566
He helped very very much. 

969
01:26:31,567 --> 01:26:36,299
And he asked me about the Holocaust problem. 

970
01:26:36,300 --> 01:26:45,499
And I once had a conversation with an educator. 

971
01:26:45,500 --> 01:26:51,466
But no one else asked me to talk about it. 

972
01:26:51,467 --> 01:27:00,666
And I am the only one in Hungary who came home without a leg. No interest. 

973
01:27:00,667 --> 01:27:03,199
IV: Did you speak with your family about it? 

974
01:27:03,200 --> 01:27:03,832
IH: What?

975
01:27:03,833 --> 01:27:06,999
IV: Did you speak with your family about it, did you tell them about it?

976
01:27:07,000 --> 01:27:09,099
IH: No. They never asked. 

977
01:27:09,100 --> 01:27:12,599
They don't want me to talk about it. 

978
01:27:12,600 --> 01:27:16,032
But they think it is an emotional problem with me. 

979
01:27:16,033 --> 01:27:19,666
I did tell some things. 

980
01:27:19,667 --> 01:27:23,632
And little details...but the entire story all together...

981
01:27:23,633 --> 01:27:30,066
No one has heard it. Even my wife first heard it yesterday. 

982
01:27:30,067 --> 01:27:33,332
Yes. That's the way it is. 

983
01:27:33,333 --> 01:27:37,199
Hungary is very interesting. Antisemitism is very strong again. 

984
01:27:37,200 --> 01:27:38,066
IV: Today. 

985
01:27:38,067 --> 01:27:43,699
IH: Today. Yes. And the government is so center...

986
01:27:43,700 --> 01:27:46,466
Yes. A little left, a little right. 

987
01:27:46,467 --> 01:27:48,666
But mostly for right. 

988
01:27:48,667 --> 01:27:54,132
And best friends with the rightwing extremists. 

989
01:27:54,133 --> 01:27:58,666
Because we have elections next year. 

990
01:27:58,667 --> 01:28:01,332
Now you can understand, why that is.

991
01:28:01,333 --> 01:28:08,399
That is why the radicals can do anything. 

992
01:28:08,400 --> 01:28:10,432
{drinks} They need votes. 

993
01:28:10,433 --> 01:28:11,466
IV: Hmm. 

994
01:28:11,467 --> 01:28:15,099
IH: They need votes. 

995
01:28:15,100 --> 01:28:19,332
Otherwise they lose power. So, I...

996
01:28:19,333 --> 01:28:21,199
IV: I'd like to ask you something. 

997
01:28:21,200 --> 01:28:21,732
IH: Go ahead. 

998
01:28:21,733 --> 01:28:29,999
IV: You have just told a lot of details. You were able to remember many things, names, days...

999
01:28:30,000 --> 01:28:32,032
IH: A lot. 

1000
01:28:32,033 --> 01:28:39,832
IV: And you spoke very little about how...about how you really felt, emotionally. 

1001
01:28:39,833 --> 01:28:41,332
You were only a child. 

1002
01:28:41,333 --> 01:28:45,666
You were 15 years old. You experienced many difficult things. 

1003
01:28:45,667 --> 01:28:49,499
You often said, that wasn't so terrible, that was nice. 

1004
01:28:49,500 --> 01:28:51,832
How did you...how did you feel?

1005
01:28:51,833 --> 01:28:55,166
Were you scared, did you know that you might die?

1006
01:28:55,167 --> 01:28:59,499
You saw many terrible things happening around you. 

1007
01:28:59,500 --> 01:29:01,832
About which you told very little. 

1008
01:29:01,833 --> 01:29:04,532
What was that like for you as a child all those years?

1009
01:29:04,533 --> 01:29:06,999
IH: Yes. That is a good question. 

1010
01:29:07,000 --> 01:29:10,566
Many people have asked me this. 

1011
01:29:10,567 --> 01:29:13,999
Well, I don't know if you can understand this. 

1012
01:29:14,000 --> 01:29:16,266
I was a child. 

1013
01:29:16,267 --> 01:29:21,166
A child believes very differently than an adult. 

1014
01:29:21,167 --> 01:29:27,366
A child doesn't start to cry when he loses his leg.

1015
01:29:27,367 --> 01:29:31,999
"Oh, what will happen to me? What will I be able to do?

1016
01:29:32,000 --> 01:29:35,332
How will I live?"

1017
01:29:35,333 --> 01:29:37,332
Not for a single moment. 

1018
01:29:37,333 --> 01:29:42,332
The only thing I thought was: should I tie this tight?

1019
01:29:42,333 --> 01:29:45,066
That should be bandaged. 

1020
01:29:45,067 --> 01:29:50,999
And if possible, I should let live...stay alive. 

1021
01:29:51,000 --> 01:29:53,432
Not look far off. 

1022
01:29:53,433 --> 01:29:58,266
Not think about what could...happen. 

1023
01:29:58,267 --> 01:30:03,232
A child doesn't think about something like that. 

1024
01:30:03,233 --> 01:30:10,332
A child has a very different...how do you say it...atmosphere in his head. 

1025
01:30:10,333 --> 01:30:17,232
Because he is not thinking far, not looking far, what is going to happen with him. 

1026
01:30:17,233 --> 01:30:21,299
For example back in Strüth. 

1027
01:30:21,300 --> 01:30:25,532
All the children were preparing for the move to Israel. 

1028
01:30:25,533 --> 01:30:32,566
And in Israel they were going to work in farming and build up the land of Israel. 

1029
01:30:32,567 --> 01:30:36,832
I understood. That was that goal. And there were educators. 

1030
01:30:36,833 --> 01:30:39,599
And they talked about it. 

1031
01:30:39,600 --> 01:30:47,232
I, I knew, if I have one leg... I have time. 

1032
01:30:47,233 --> 01:30:53,966
When I am able to walk well, when I can uh...am healthy enough. 

1033
01:30:53,967 --> 01:31:00,766
then I still have time to think about what I want to do. 

1034
01:31:00,767 --> 01:31:06,766
There was an opportunity for me to go to America. 

1035
01:31:06,767 --> 01:31:15,099
Because a cousin of my aunt.. uh from my mother, first cousin, lived in New York. 

1036
01:31:15,100 --> 01:31:19,132
Her husband was a very famous doctor. 

1037
01:31:19,133 --> 01:31:21,332
And she was an doctor too. 

1038
01:31:21,333 --> 01:31:23,232
Named Lax. 

1039
01:31:23,233 --> 01:31:29,566
And the Laxes did everything so that I could come to America.  

1040
01:31:29,567 --> 01:31:32,066
Yes. But the politics. 

1041
01:31:32,067 --> 01:31:37,166
The politics said, we only need healthy people. 

1042
01:31:37,167 --> 01:31:40,666
We have enough sick people in America. 

1043
01:31:40,667 --> 01:31:44,366
So we aren't going to import sick people. 

1044
01:31:44,367 --> 01:31:51,399
I was sick, they said, out of the question. That was one thing. 

1045
01:31:51,400 --> 01:31:55,832
Secondly, I had made close friendships with the boys. 

1046
01:31:55,833 --> 01:32:00,799
They wanted to go to Israel. 

1047
01:32:00,800 --> 01:32:04,999
And I asked: "What can I do?"

1048
01:32:05,000 --> 01:32:07,432
They said: "You can come along."

1049
01:32:07,433 --> 01:32:09,832
A new country is being created.

1050
01:32:09,833 --> 01:32:17,532
You are certain to find somethng that you can...where you can work well. 

1051
01:32:17,533 --> 01:32:19,332
I understood. 

1052
01:32:19,333 --> 01:32:23,666
Then I got sick. Went to Bad Wörishofen. 

1053
01:32:23,667 --> 01:32:28,032
In Bad Wörishofen I was very good friends with the doctors. 

1054
01:32:28,033 --> 01:32:32,299
I was 17, 18 years old at the time. 

1055
01:32:32,300 --> 01:32:35,499
In '47, I was already 18 years old. 

1056
01:32:35,500 --> 01:32:37,266
We spoke with the doctors. 

1057
01:32:37,267 --> 01:32:41,699
And the doctors asked what my plans were. 

1058
01:32:41,700 --> 01:32:44,399
I said: "Maybe I'll go to Israel." 

1059
01:32:44,400 --> 01:32:50,866
And if a new homeland is being built, I'll find my place there. 

1060
01:32:50,867 --> 01:32:53,699
And then the doctor said to me: "Listen, 

1061
01:32:53,700 --> 01:32:57,499
Let me give you some good advice. 

1062
01:32:57,500 --> 01:33:00,332
Don't go to Israel. 

1063
01:33:00,333 --> 01:33:08,999
For your lungs, for your pleura, the climate in Israel is not good. 

1064
01:33:09,000 --> 01:33:14,599
A person with a sick lung is not allowed to go into the sun for 10, 20 years. 

1065
01:33:14,600 --> 01:33:16,132
Can't bathe in the sun. 

1066
01:33:16,133 --> 01:33:19,499
Otherwise it starts all over again. 

1067
01:33:19,500 --> 01:33:25,332
And many things can happen that can damage the health. 

1068
01:33:25,333 --> 01:33:31,232
That is why, because I already had problems with my lungs. 

1069
01:33:31,233 --> 01:33:39,999
He said: "I advise you to stay somewhere in Europe, or in a country where it is not too warm.

1070
01:33:40,000 --> 01:33:41,832
Where there isn't heat. 

1071
01:33:41,833 --> 01:33:46,999
Because that is not good for you." 

1072
01:33:47,000 --> 01:33:51,832
So Israel got put aside again. 

1073
01:33:51,833 --> 01:33:58,799
At that time I learned that I have a brother living in Budapest. 

1074
01:33:58,800 --> 01:34:02,466
Two aunts, two sisters from my mother. 

1075
01:34:02,467 --> 01:34:07,732
And they called me. I didn't say yes or no.

1076
01:34:07,733 --> 01:34:10,599
I thought about it. 

1077
01:34:10,600 --> 01:34:13,999
What were my other options?

1078
01:34:14,000 --> 01:34:16,999
I didn't have any other options. 

1079
01:34:17,000 --> 01:34:28,399
In the last year in Bad Wörishofen I had the chance to leave the sanatorium and learn a skill. 

1080
01:34:28,400 --> 01:34:30,999
I learned photography. 

1081
01:34:31,000 --> 01:34:35,799
Alone. Alone. So that was a possibility. 

1082
01:34:35,800 --> 01:34:42,999
Five or six Polish people registered there and I was the only Hungarian. 

1083
01:34:43,000 --> 01:34:49,999
And I took this -- what is it called -- course there for three months. 

1084
01:34:50,000 --> 01:34:54,466
And I did very well on the exam. 

1085
01:34:54,467 --> 01:35:02,332
And that was a basis until today that I was able to start working with film. 

1086
01:35:02,333 --> 01:35:05,499
I had wanted to go into film back then already. 

1087
01:35:05,500 --> 01:35:10,032
I had said photography or film. 

1088
01:35:10,033 --> 01:35:13,766
And I succeeded in getting into film. 

1089
01:35:13,767 --> 01:35:17,166
Is what I told you a sufficient answer?

1090
01:35:17,167 --> 01:35:21,399
IV: Yes. Did you have a happy life?

1091
01:35:21,400 --> 01:35:23,599
IH: Very happy. Very happy. 

1092
01:35:23,600 --> 01:35:29,799
I.. was at the same workplace for 43 years. 

1093
01:35:29,800 --> 01:35:38,666
I loved this work so much that I sometimes went there at night to make sure everything worked out. 

1094
01:35:38,667 --> 01:35:45,166
Because, uh, over time I not only learned, I became a leader, too.  

1095
01:35:45,167 --> 01:35:50,332
I washead of the black-white department... I was the head. 

1096
01:35:50,333 --> 01:35:56,066
And I had more than 70 people and very big responsibility. 

1097
01:35:56,067 --> 01:36:06,332
Because every week we made the daily news show, documentaries, film reports, advertisements, military films. 

1098
01:36:06,333 --> 01:36:13,332
So all kinds of films and between every year two, three feature films. 

1099
01:36:13,333 --> 01:36:17,032
And they all went through my hands. 

1100
01:36:17,033 --> 01:36:24,566
And I was responsible for getting it into the cinema on Thursdays. 

1101
01:36:24,567 --> 01:36:27,766
So that was a very big responsibility. 

1102
01:36:27,767 --> 01:36:32,366
And it was very important work. 

1103
01:36:32,367 --> 01:36:36,166
And, oh, I had a feelng for it. 

1104
01:36:36,167 --> 01:36:39,632
I had such a desire to do it. 

1105
01:36:39,633 --> 01:36:44,666
And I was paid very well. 

1106
01:36:44,667 --> 01:36:51,732
And the result was that I worked there for 43 years. Enough?

1107
01:36:51,733 --> 01:36:55,132
IV: That's enough. Thank you.

1108
01:36:55,133 --> 01:36:57,766
IH: My pleasure. I enjoyed doing it. 

1109
01:36:57,767 --> 01:37:00,999
People are finally interested in my...

1110
01:37:01,000 --> 01:37:07,232
We have a saying: no one is a prophet in his own country. 

1111
01:37:07,233 --> 01:37:10,332
I can say exactly that too.  

1112
01:37:10,333 --> 01:37:12,366
No one in Hungary is interested.

1113
01:37:12,367 --> 01:37:16,166
Here more and more people are interested. 

1114
01:37:16,167 --> 01:37:19,666
Yes. {clears throat}

1115
01:37:19,667 --> 01:37:23,667
IV: So now let's do a bit...