Object numberM2010/001:005
DescriptionEight page typed testimony submitted by Eva Sosnowicz, Guta Rosenzweig and Zofja Avinos, recorded in the 'Refugee House' in Bucharest on 1 June 1945 by Jadwiga Sapera. The eyewitnesses describe the German occupation of Ostrowiec, the creation of the ghetto, the Jewish Police (Judenrat), selection for displacement, liquidation of the ghetto, corruption, loading onto train wagons for deportation to Auschwitz, showering, shaving of hair, distribution of clothes, Canada Kommando, etc. The report also describes the barracks and roll call at Auschwitz. "We looked funny, with shaved heads, in long dresses, which did not fit and without head scarves on our heads."
Eva Sosnowicz describes how she held her baby under her armpit bundled up in a way so that it would not be recognized as a living being, but the Jewish policeman recognized the 'parcel' and took it away from her.
Excerpts:
"When I went out at night I sometimes saw belching fire from chimneys and I imagined then that the next night or the next day they will come back to our barrack with the aim of taking me to the oven and I saw myself already burning. I tried to avoid this scene by not going out at night."
"There were instances that with the aim of terminating their suffering they made a dash on to the electrified wires."
"Beatings for us were like daily bread. We often had bruises on our foreheads, under an eye and on our backs from a cane stick or a fist. At every step and activity awaited us a beating."
Keywords:
Ostrowiec ghetto
Judenrat (Rubinstein)
Judenrat (Blumenfeld)
Judenrat (Seidman)
Schyld (SS)
Sandomierz (Jewish city)
Langer (Gestapo)
Treblinka
Liquidation of ghetto
Czestocic camp
Dr Mengele
Kretzau camp
Jadwiga Sapera was born Hermina Silberfeld, to Polish Jews Nathan Silberfeld and Anna (nee Hollander) on 27 November 1914 in Miskolc, Hungary. In 1918, the family returned to their home in Stary Sacz, Poland. Hermina attended a convent, which gave her a knowledge of German and Catholicism that was helpful for her survival. In 1942, Hermina attained false identification papers of a Polish-Catholic woman, Jadwiga Eleonora Jarzemiszewska. As Jadwiga she was able to find new accommodation and work, and at the end of 1942, moved to Krakow to better safeguard her secret. In 1943 she moved to Warsaw and then to Budapest, until liberation. After the war she kept the name Jadwiga and got work in Bucharest typing the testimonies of concentration camp survivors for the Association of Polish Jewish Refugees. She found out her father had died of hunger and disease, but her mother and brother survived. She was reunited with them in Poland. She lived in Katowice with her husband Jan Sapera who she met and married in 1946. They immigrated to Australia in 1958 with their three children. In the last decade of her life she re-adopted her Jewish name Hermina.
Eva Sosnowicz describes how she held her baby under her armpit bundled up in a way so that it would not be recognized as a living being, but the Jewish policeman recognized the 'parcel' and took it away from her.
Excerpts:
"When I went out at night I sometimes saw belching fire from chimneys and I imagined then that the next night or the next day they will come back to our barrack with the aim of taking me to the oven and I saw myself already burning. I tried to avoid this scene by not going out at night."
"There were instances that with the aim of terminating their suffering they made a dash on to the electrified wires."
"Beatings for us were like daily bread. We often had bruises on our foreheads, under an eye and on our backs from a cane stick or a fist. At every step and activity awaited us a beating."
Keywords:
Ostrowiec ghetto
Judenrat (Rubinstein)
Judenrat (Blumenfeld)
Judenrat (Seidman)
Schyld (SS)
Sandomierz (Jewish city)
Langer (Gestapo)
Treblinka
Liquidation of ghetto
Czestocic camp
Dr Mengele
Kretzau camp
Jadwiga Sapera was born Hermina Silberfeld, to Polish Jews Nathan Silberfeld and Anna (nee Hollander) on 27 November 1914 in Miskolc, Hungary. In 1918, the family returned to their home in Stary Sacz, Poland. Hermina attended a convent, which gave her a knowledge of German and Catholicism that was helpful for her survival. In 1942, Hermina attained false identification papers of a Polish-Catholic woman, Jadwiga Eleonora Jarzemiszewska. As Jadwiga she was able to find new accommodation and work, and at the end of 1942, moved to Krakow to better safeguard her secret. In 1943 she moved to Warsaw and then to Budapest, until liberation. After the war she kept the name Jadwiga and got work in Bucharest typing the testimonies of concentration camp survivors for the Association of Polish Jewish Refugees. She found out her father had died of hunger and disease, but her mother and brother survived. She was reunited with them in Poland. She lived in Katowice with her husband Jan Sapera who she met and married in 1946. They immigrated to Australia in 1958 with their three children. In the last decade of her life she re-adopted her Jewish name Hermina.
Production date 1945
Subjecttestimonies, survivors, survivors, survival, eyewitness accounts, deportation, Judenrat
Object nametestimonies
Materialpaper
Dimensions
- width: 210.00 mm
height: 300.00 mm
Language
- Polish Testimony 5
PROTOCOL
This record of testimony was taken (accepted) in the “Refugee House” in ORADENMARE on Zarda St. 9 on the day 1.V1.1945.
With the aim of submitting this testimony presented themselves:
SOSNOWICZ EVA born in 1919 in OPUTOWIE
ROSENZWEIG GUTA born in 1918 in OSTROWIEC in the region of OPATOWSKI
AVINOS ZOFJA from WACHSMANOW, born in 19921 in OSTROWIEC
And they state the following:
During the German occupation we lived with our parents in OSTROWIEC. Until the creation of the ghetto there were no big incidents. In the city two SS men always walked around with dogs trained to bait Jews, and beatings often occurred even though Judenrat used to bribe them so as to keep the peace. Once a Jew was hanged because he sold for a too expensive price some fruit to a German. The SS particularly tormented women. Under the threat of death they pulled them out of their houses and only let them go after beatings. The president of the Judenrat at the beginning was ROSEMANN who died from typhus and his successor was Rubinstein who strived to fulfill German orders thus harming the Jews. The Judenrat set up a Jewish police whose commander was BLUMENFELD who was a decent man.
On the 28th of September we awoke early in the morning with terrible news. In the city on the streets corpses were laying. The details were the following: SS men with PETER and BRUN at the vanguard pulled out from houses according to a list, around 50 persons, mostly the intelligencia, about 20 of them were put into prison and from there they were sent to OSWIENCIM (Auschwitz) the rest were shot dead on the streets. The corpses were buried in a common grave in the cemetery.
At the beginning the ghetto was not closed. The number of Jews in the ghetto was around 28,000. With regard to food, things were not too terrible. We managed in various ways. The most unpleasant incident that occurred in OSTROWIEC because of a political offence, 29 Poles were arrested and to the sounds of an orchestra they were lead through the entire city into the direction of the ghetto. In the square two gallows were set up and the Jews were forced to set them up. Jews were also forced by the Germans to carry out the act of execution. As a result among the Aryan population occurred an outrage becoming a base for an anti Semitic mood, in spite of the fact that it was the Polish police who led the prisoners to the place of execution. The condemned prior to their deaths stated in a shouting manner that their harm (injustice) will be avenged.
There was no peace in the ghetto. There were incidents of shootings for various reasons. It was difficult for me to remember everything. Later survival experiences became fogged up by previous terrible experiences.
First displacement occurred in 1941 toward the end of the festival of Succoth. The displacement committee “TRUPIE GLOWKI” (SKULLS), the …. Jewish Police received a directive from the ARBAITSAMT to receive them. The ghetto was surrounded by German gendarmerie, the SS and Polish Police. The Jewish police had the responsibility to let know the Jewish population about their immediate presentation of everyone to the square with the exception of those who have an ARBEITSKARTE (a work permit). The latter ones had to report to the Arbeitsamt. Those that were asked to go to the square had a worse fate than those who had to report to the Arbeitsamt, and every one was trying to get a better place even by a monetary bribe. You couldn’t get by without corruption.
I found myself (SOSNOWICZ EVA) with my child at the square and my husband was with the Arbeitsamt. Thanks to my husband’s maneuvering I managed miraculously to get to the Arbeitsamt. We stayed there till the evening, but we were taken for selection and during the selection a certain number were allocated for relocation (displacement). During the selection I held the baby under my armpit bundled up in a way so that it would not be recognized that it was a living being (creature). However one of the Jewish policemen recognized the “parcel” and after taking it away from me he gave it away to an SS man. The entire group from the Arbeitsamt was sent to the committee building, and after 8 days were sent to various work places (work posts).
The action was carried out by the SS-man SCHYLD as a civilian. In the market square all those that were gathered there stood the whole day without eating. Around them were standing Ukrainians (they were surrounded by Ukrainians). In the afternoon SHYLD ordered that all valuables and money be surrendered promising that in return they will go to their own homes. This was a trick (deception) – the Jewish police and the Ukrainians were collecting the money – but this did not help. Several suitcases of money and valuables were collected and placed in the middle of the market so that everyone could see. The laughter of the SS men made a terrible impression on us as after the money action they broke out into a jeering laughter, and shouts of happiness which went through the crowd changed slowing into shouts of despair…They became dejected with their hope. Even in the same evening and during the shootings at the station people were transported out into an unknown direction.
Wives of policemen were also standing at the market together with the others who were destined to be displaced. In the evening however, they were separated, but not all though. Those who had children were displaced (transported) and husbands joined some of the others.
After the first displacement everyone worked at their own posts and in ……houses in the ghetto. The Ukrainians and the Jewish police were escorting them to work. Several days before the second displacement it was announced that in SANDOMIERZ will become a “JUDENSTAAT” (Jewish city) and everyone can voluntarily go there. It was said that those who will stay behind will have to walk there. Mainly the sick, the elderly and the children were volunteering as well as those who did not have work. After two weeks a general displacement occurred from SANDOMIERZ to TREBLINKA.
The second displacement was carried out by SCHYLD together with the local Gestapo man LANGER. It was carried out according to a chronological list order. Langer left in OSTROWIEC only those people who were employed at posts which in his opinion were necessary. The rest were taken from the square where their names were read out to the station and among the shooting they were put into train carts and sent to TREBLINKA. Those that were left at the square were taken to their work posts prior to being searched. For hiding valuables they were shot on the spot (there were three victims). The displacement took place in January 1942,
The third displacement meant the liquidation of the ghetto and moving to camps. Beyond OSTROWIEC in a field in the middle of nowhere a camp existed not far from the station made up of Jews from WARSAW, RADOM, LODZ and from neighborhood cities and villages. To this camp also belonged the barracks in CZESTOCIC put down several kilometers further.
The Jews who worked in posts in OSTROWIEC were completely moved to the camp beyond the city. Those who were dismissed from work, and those who were apprehensive about being displaced just as during previous displacements, hid in villages and only after a certain period of time turned themselves in to the camp where they were accepted and worked together with the others.
The camp numbered several thousand Jews. At four o’clock in the morning the Jewish police were waking us up for work. Muster parades (country parades) were carried out by the Jewish police and the Ukrainians. There were two work groups. One group worked in JEGER’S factory that is the brickworks which was located in the city, and the second group worked in an iron factory which was located near the camp.
Equally in the brickworks and in the second factory the workers worked in two shifts. People who worked in the brickworks received food on the spot and those who worked in the factory received food in the camp. They were going to work escorted by the Ukrainians, In the camps frequent searches were occurring, during which there were always victims.
There were not too many Germans in the camp. The head was OBERSCHARFUHRER (whose surname I don’t remember) and the LAGERFUHER was a Jewish policeman named SEIDMAN. The Ukrainians and the Jewish police behaved badly towards the camp inmates. Today I see that life in this camp wasn’t the worst. Particularly it was better for those who worked in the city and with the assistance of non Jewish workers they were able to ensure themselves with food and help those who did not have this opportunity (those working in the iron factory). The warden with the jurisdiction over our camp were the Gestapo and SS who were stationed in the City. In this way 2 years of work passed by in this camp.
Two weeks before the liquidation of the camp, the LAGERFUHRER ran away and a new action began. Those who worked in the brickworks took advantage of the possibility of running away and ran away. During a particular day the group working in the steel factory was not let out of the camp to work, and the group working in the brickworks around midday was brought back to the camp. We were locked in the camp for several days. Some but few were able to bribe the Ukrainians and ran away. OBERSCHARFUHRER spoke to us several times explaining that we are being transported to CZESTOCHOW for work and things will be good for us but we didn’t believe it anymore.
Finally after several days we were taken and loaded onto train wagons, men and women all together. No one remained in the camp. Our transport was traveling to OSWIENCIM (Auschwitz). During the trip we received a little food: bread and eggs. We traveled during the day and during the night. In the morning we arrived to our destination. Already in KATOWICE we knew where they were taking us to. In the darkness we could only see the electric wires. At first light however different scenery presented itself. We saw people with towels around their necks walking in groups to the washrooms. Proof that here still exist live prisoners going to wash themselves gave us some reassurance as it may not necessarily be here so bad, like we imagined previously. Jews came up dressed in striped clothing who worked by the so called KAHADA – KOMMANDO. We came out of the wagons. They separated men from the women. This was for us a tragic moment. Children remained with their mothers. We were led to the bath house.
Once again we were overcome by the feeling that we are going to the oven. Before the bathhouse all our packages and money were taken away. This was yet another moment of parting from our belongings to which the human being became attached and became totally naked. We were led to have a bath (to bathe). Prior to this we were completely shaved, only a few women were left with hair. To wash our hair we were given a disinfectant soap.
The bathing occurred in a big hall like room with many sprays (shower heads). We still continued to have the impression that shortly our death will come because the news that was reaching us prior to this from OSWIENCIM where from circumstances exactly in which we find ourselves. But our disillusionment became more pleasant, because after the bathing we were escorted to a hall where there was clothing, where working Jews were distributing to us shirts and dresses.
Our transport was exceptionally fortunate because there was no selection and children remained with their mothers. After we got dressed (it was spring) we came out and we were led to the camp. It was still cold and we shivered from the cold. We looked funny, with shaved heads, in long dresses, which did not match (did not fit) and without head scarves on our heads.
We belonged to camp B2B. We were sent to a block in which were housed French, Hungarian and Polish Aryan women. We slept 8 – 10 per one bunk. The block accommodated 1,000 persons, and the bunks were triple bunks. The noise was big because one could not understand the other; there were arguments over the bunks. The block’s Hungarian Jewess could not cope. Her name was SZARI and she behaved towards us badly. This was barrack 16. Before we were in block 14, where the head person of the block was also Hungarian. The Polish women were in a particular way badly treated by the head person of the block through beatings and punishments (kneeling, withholding food etc.) In the morning the NACHTWACHA (Nightwatch) (Hungarians) woke us up at 3.30 – 4 am. We had very quickly to get dressed and run to get coffee. The one who was able to fight got the coffee. In a short period of time an assembly was called. For not getting to the assembly quickly enough you would receive a beating by the female head of the block or her deputy. “SZRAJBERKA” who is also present at the assembly was also Hungarian. We came to the assembly only wearing our dresses and shivering from the cold and we aligned ourselves in rows of 5. The Poles, French and Hungarians aligned themselves in separate rows. Those who were not standing straight were beaten. If anyone opened their mouth loudly (spoke loudly) as a punishment the entire group had to kneel for the entire duration of the assembly which lasted 3 to 4 hours. The woman in charge of the block counted the people, and the daily number had to agree. After counting everyone the woman in charge of the block walked off to the LAGERALTESTE, who was also Hungarian from Theresienstadt and gave her the report, after which the woman in charge of the block returned with orders, but sometimes it was the ‘BLOKSZPERA’ and during a different time people were being caught for work.
The report ended up typically with the arrival of an SS man or an SS woman, who checked (confirmed) the accuracy of the report. Those that were sick and had temperature were counted but left in the block and counted there. In the event that in a block the counts didn’t tally the entire camp had to continue to stand during the entire assembly. Dinner time was at 11 o’clock. Each block sent its people to pick up barrels with dinner. It was as usual a clear soup. Twice a week there were potatoes in jackets (three potatoes per person) for supper. At 4 to 5 there was an assembly again that also lasted 2 to 3 hours long, until an SS or the LAGERFUHRER came to check the conformance of the numbers.
After the assembly bread was portioned out and to the bread sometimes we were given margarine or honey, or a bit of cheese, everyday, something different, sometimes coffee. The soups were very bad, not for eating, one litre per person. There was never enough food; we had to “organize” it. For the main part we managed in the following way. When it was brought in the soup was just seized out of the barrel. Naturally those that were caught red handed were severely beaten. 50% of our women lived however through the “organization” by the men who came to work into our camp and brought food with them which they portioned out to their acquaintances. Naturally, women who were not able to manage themselves and also didn’t receive any assistance were going hungry and collapsing from lack of strength.
The bread that was portioned out in the evening had to last until the next evening. We divided the portion into two parts, the first portion we ate in the evening before sleeping so that we could fall asleep, and the second portion we ate in the morning before the assembly which occurred whilst the moon was still in the sky. At night it was not allowed to go to the toilet. Physiological needs were carried out in the bucket which stood in front of the blocks for that purpose.
The “NACHTWACHE” who kept a watch in the yard at night was made up of Jewish women who when they came out at night were always beaten. I was also at times beaten. When I went out at night I sometimes saw belching fire from chimneys and I imagined then that the next night or the next day they will come to our barrack with the aim of taking me to the oven and I saw myself already burning. I tried to avoid this scene by not going out at night.
Opposite our barracks was camp C which was screened off (separated) from us with barbed wire. There, very frequently selections were carried out and screams were heard of those being taken for gassing. There in contrast to us assembly’s were called during the night but during the day there was BLOKSPERRE. After several weeks of our stay we were tattooed. I was given a number A.17091.
Summer had passed and winter is nearing. We did not have winter clothes. The French and Italian women who were not used to the Polish climate often became sick and suffered as a result of the winter. They were not able to help themselves and not able to arrange assistance for themselves. There were instances that with the aim of terminating their suffering they made a dash on to the electrified wires.
One time during a muster assembly a French woman was talking to her fellow country woman. Szari the woman head of the block noticed this and as a punishment she ordered her to kneel during the entire period of the assembly and at the same time she had to hold rocks in her hands whilst she was beating her in a terrible way around the heart area and the poor victim was yelling out “I would have preferred being beaten by a German rather than by a Jewess”. In response to this Szari ordered her to continue kneeling and called over an SS man who had a reputation for being terrible, and who was belting the French woman with a cane in a ruthless manner to the point that several hours later she died.
Beatings for us were like daily bread. We often had bruises on our foreheads, under an eye and on our backs from a cane stick or a fist. At every step and activity awaited us a beating. During our entire stay in the camp we did not get our periods, we were getting sick frequently, but even with temperatures we still walked around, but we were afraid to report to the hospital where selections frequently occurred and they were sent to the
Crematoria. The woman in charge of the block who had a long time ago lived through the selections in the camp had told us about this. Lately there had been daily “blokszpere” (ceiling/locking down) of the blocks because of selections occurring in our camp and in the adjoining camp. We were not allowed (permitted) then to go out so as not to see the people being transported to the crematorium. “Blokszpere” (ceiling/locking down of the blocks) also occurred when fresh transports were arriving from Hungary and Theresienstadt. Then, when the sun was out in the yard and it was then possible for us to warm up, we had to lay quietly on the bunks and not move for entire days, and they ……. live through from the beginning the selections, registrations and perhaps even going straight into the ovens.
Hygienic conditions were terrible. Blankets were dirty, and from time to time when lice appeared so as not to prevent typhus we walked with our blankets very far (for the entire day without food) to the baths and disinfection. This happened typically on Sunday following visits by doctors (a Jewish doctor visited us). There were two washrooms in our camp. We did not wash everyday because we were not permitted to go there. Frequently however, even during “blokszpere” (the ceiling/locking down of the block) we sneaked out to go to the washrooms, in spite of beatings which we endured whilst taking the chances because we would have been eaten up by the dirt and lice. It was not possible to wash our dresses and shirts let alone drying our clothes, because we would be beaten for this by the woman in charge of our block. We never received soap and towels, we had to “organize” everything ourselves be it a piece of bread or also “zulage”.
If we were successful doing some washing, we held the washed underwear or also the dress in our hands with the aim of drying them as we were not permitted to hang them.
The woman in charge of the block had a separate room and benefited from a separate kitchen. Sometimes the aroma of different foods wafted towards us from her living quarters.
Lately selections were occurring in our camp with us. For these selections arrived Dr. MENGELE who chose a certain contingent, mainly from among the elderly, and they were sent to a separate block, and the next day to the oven. In our block the Polish women remained the longest. Firstly the Hungarian women were transported out to the different blocks, then the French women and towards the end us.
We were moved to FKL (FRAUENKONZENTRATIONSLAGER) (a woman’s concentration camp) known as the A Camp, and from there we were supposed to be transported further. We were waiting until the order would come for further transportation. In the meantime people from among us were being caught for work beyond the camp. The camp altester and capo were usually Polish Aryan women who handled us.
Our barracks were very filthy and the hygienic conditions were even worse than in camp B, (our previous camp). After the assembly (muster assembly) when it was still dark the woman in charge of the block in the presence of a female official from ARBEITSAMT was choosing for work that is so called ‘AUSSENKOMMANDO’. Our women were running away and those who were pulled in had to report on a daily basis. Later they were transported to another block and they now were not counted as belonging (being part of) to our transport. When we were sent to Germany they remained and numbered around 70 persons and to this day there is no news about them.
Winter is approaching. Frost and terrible mud – up to the knees. During the assembly (muster) our feet were freezing, one stood cuddled to the other, and we were getting fevers. After the evening assembly (muster) we were entering our dirty blocks to rest, covering ourselves with dirty blankets. Our shoes we had to guard from them being stolen by hiding them under our heads. We were beaten for this but there was no other way.
Here we went through selections three times. During the first selection older women and Muslim women were taken away and were kept in separate barracks until they were sent to the crematorium. During the second selection women who were pregnant were taken, those that looked bad and children. The third time people were taken without any specific reason; it depended on luck and Dr. MENGELE.
Towards the end of 1944, our transport made up of around 500 women set out to Germany, and the transport was well endowed (well guarded) with soldiers. For the trip we were given coats, scarves for our heads, stockings and dresses and one loaf of bread per person. We were loaded into train wagons and guarded by German gendarmerie we travelled. After several days we arrived at GEFARSDORF.
This was a camp especially for women. Hungarian women were there already. LAGERALTESTE (a woman in the camp who was “trusty” had a privileged position, had responsibility for other prisoners and authority to punish them). A camp elder senior camp inmate was Marysia who accepted us very well. When we arrived during the night she welcomed us with these words “girls don’t be afraid, things will be good for you, you are together with me”. When we heard the Polish language, our hearts began beating with happiness. We were led into a block where we slept on wooden floor boards covered with blankets. We were divided to work in various ammunition factories.
The food in this camp wasn’t bad. We ate in a very clean mess hall, and the food was also cleanly prepared. With time conditions became worse. The assemblies (musters) were short, hygienic conditions were good, enough water was located next to the block, but the cleanliness in the block had to be exemplary because anything to the contrary, that is not keeping the cleanliness there was the threat of beatings by the female head of the block or the SS women. We went to work in two shifts.
The worst was the night shift from which we returned in the morning and we had to clean up and later the female komandoführer would not permit us to sleep and she was beating us for various unimportant small reasons. In the evening, whilst going to work, at the factory we fell asleep at the tables and at the machines because of exhaustion. In this camp we were for a period of three months. Towards the end it was difficult with food, we were starving.
When the front began nearing closer and was several kilometers from the camp, the factory together with the machinery was evacuated and we were led on foot together with the female KOMANDOFüHRER with SS women escorts. During several days we walked over 20 kilometers without food. At night, in spite of the cold we slept outside in the yard. On the way we stopped in the Camp KRETZAU for a day. There from among us occurred a selection resulting in the female KOMANDOFüHRER chose pregnant women, older women, and those who she found disagreeable in the previous camp. Those chosen during the selection remained on the site (on the spot) and the rest went further. KRETZAU was a terrible camp. The hygienic conditions, food conditions and conditions regarding clothing were bad. There was no water for washing, and people walked without evening clothes and without shoes. Beatings occurred daily and punishments took the form of withholding food. From the women from our transport their shoes were taken off and given to someone else. Women were going to work starving and we felt fortunate to have left this camp behind us.
In KRETZAU we met up with Dr MENGELE from Auschwitz.
We arrived on foot to GEORGENTHAL in Sudetenland. On the way several girls escaped. We were divided into two groups – Hungarian and Polish women. Among us Polish women were several Hungarian women who voluntarily wanted to remain with us. The female KOMANDOFUHRER who came with us returned to KRATZAU taking with her the LAGERALTESTE from GEPARSDORF as well as the doctor with the purpose of straightening out (putting it in order) the KRETZAU camp. In the blocks we lived on three level bunks. The block was clean and there was freedom. We worked in an ammunition factory and also at work posts beyond the factory and the camp. The food was sparse, little bread, one soup daily, and coffee in the morning and evening. From this camp I now don’t remember anything in particular.
When the front was close, there was talk of a further evacuation. Some of the girls and I with them were contemplating to run away from the camp in case we had to leave again. There were eight of us and we tied up with a good SS woman who was Czech to give us keys to the back exit, and the porter who was also Czech helped. We ran away to a German woman but she denounced us and turned us over to the Gestapo. They took us back to the camp, but ahead of us (before us) ran out with great joy the Czech porter saying to us “you are now free, nothing bad will happen to you, you have to behave quietly in the camp, at night a white flag will be hung out”. Gestapo was already powerless and they didn’t do anything bad to us. In the camp there was astonishment that we were running away. The German contingent quit (left) the camp together with the OBERSCHARFUHRER. Only one German remained to keep order. At night at 12pm the white flag was hung out, and the following day we awaited our freedom. Our joy was indescribable.
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Mrs Jadwiga Sapera