Object numberM2010/001:016
DescriptionSix-page typed testimony of Mosze (Moshe) Rubinstein recorded in the 'Refugee House' in Ordea Mare on 9 Zorda Street Bucharest in 1945 by Jadwiga Sapera. The eyewitness account describes the gruesome murder by sticks on necks in Cieszanow Forced Labour Camp where he stayed for a year. He was transferred to Auschwitz and describes how bribery with diamonds and gold helped him stay alive. He describes the actions of the Sonnderkommando and the Crematoria in detail, the evacuation of the camp on 18 January 1945, and recalls the songs that were sung in the 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.
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, murders, survivors, survival, eyewitness accounts, deportation
Object nametestimonies
Materialpaper
Dimensions
- width: 210.00 mm
height: 300.00 mm
Language
- Polish Testimony 16
PROTOKOL
Accepted in the Refugee House in Ordea Mare on 9 Zorda Street in … 1945…. Presents himself RUBINSTEIN MOSHE….and states the following:
(The first paragraph of this testimony was illegible).
There were 15000 Jews in the CIESZANOW (forced labour) camp. We were not given food, we were beaten and we had to work hard. ….in a nearby forest where people were ordered to carry 300 kg weights. Because no one was able to carry such heavy weights they were immediately shot to death.
One day 15 young boys were taken to a nearby forest where they were ordered to carry 150 kilogram weights. Naturally no one was able to carry these weights for very long. These 15 boys were killed in the following way, each individual was placed on the ground, and a stick was then placed across his neck. Two Jews had to stand on both ends of the stick and in this way the victim died as a result of suffocation. There were those among the Jews who absolutely refused to stand on the stick and thus take part in the murder and preferred themselves to die rather than participate in the killing. These “mutineers” were hanged by their hands and the SS were stabbing them with their bayonets.
Parcels from home never reached us. We received only half to one soup daily, so it was no wonder that we weakened and many died. There were several hundred corpses daily and later even more.
In the CIESZANOW Camp I stayed for one year. I managed to survive through various ways. I had with me some jewellery which during searches I managed to save in the following way, several diamonds and small pieces of gold I swallowed and after the searches ended I managed to retrieve them back. I bribed a particular SS man who was an OBERSTURMFUHRER in the camp, a certain DOLF. For one diamond I received for a period of 10 days 10 dekagram of bread per day. I walked around virtually naked and with bare feet. Even in the forest we were forbidden to bend down so as to pick a few berries because you would be shot dead for even an instinctive reaction. After one year only 2000-2300 Jews remained alive.
After this period around 100 persons were transferred to AUSCHWITZ and I was among those. This was in the summer of 1942. I look wretched – virtually skin and bone: In Auschwitz we were all supposed to have been taken to the Krematoria. Realizing what this is all about and by now having nothing to lose I approached the OBERSTURMFUHRER ALTON, a known sadist and murderer telling him that I have by the loading platform hidden diamonds and gold which I would give to him if he spared my life. Out of one hundred people I only remained alive thanks to my bribing the SS man. The diamonds and gold I had with me and I gave them to him right away. He transferred me to a camp in which the inmates were Gypsies. Hygienic conditions were terrible; I was full of lice with open wounds on my body.
The block in which I resided was near the field where there was a Krematoria. Transports began to arrive from the entire Poland. Around 10000 Jews also arrived – 70% of them went straight to the Krematoria. These were Belgians and Greeks.
The Krematoria looked like a bath house. Everyone was given a towel and soap so as to disguise it as a bath house. Jews arriving from the West were still naïve and didn’t realise that this was a trick.
The Krematoria accommodated 3000 people. This was a huge hall, with walls 80cm thick. At the top of a wall was an opening 20 x 20cm in size which was covered with a piece of metal plate (tin). Mirrors were hanging on the walls and they emitted so much light thus giving the appearance that they were windows. The brightness gave the appearance that it was daytime. After crowding the hall with people the doors were hermetically sealed. Through an opening three doses of powder were inserted into the hall around ½ kg and it was dispersed within the hall with the help of a fan. Three minutes was sufficient to suffocate everyone. After around 12 minutes the hall was opened and a ghastly sight appeared. You could see groups of families huddled together, with pieces of flesh bitten off their bodies, you could see people who in terrible suffering were looking for an escape, were jumping on the walls scratching and biting it, people throwing themselves on top of one another and in the end they fell. When the hermetically sealed doors of the hall were opened the fans were again turned on with the aim of letting the gas out and a crew made up of 250 people called the SONDERKOMAND who were all Jews began to work. A vehicle with three carts arrived into which the corpses were loaded, around 1000 each time. The corpses were thrown in the carts just like one would load rubbish, two people took the corpse, one by the legs and one by the head, and in this way the work was carried out quickly until the carts were filled up. The carts were taken to the pits where they were drenched in human fat and set alight. The fire belched for 32 hours. In addition the carts went also the Krematoria and the gas chambers that were also in the neighbourhood. In the Krematoria 10 people at once were incinerated in a period of 3 to 5 minutes. The Krematoria resembled a bunker. In the middle was a large hole into which victims were thrown in. Bodies were burnt using electric current and even the ashes did not remain.
From the group in which I stayed 1400 people were chosen and we went to the BUNA camp. This was a concentration camp similar to the AUSCHWITZ Concentration camp. Among us were elderly people who could not walk. After walking one kilometre they wanted to sit down. SS-men however shot them or beat them, and thus on the way 800 people were killed. Seeing what was happening I thought of escape and I succeeded doing this.
There was a village in the vicinity where I hid in a stable belonging to a peasant owner who knew nothing about me being there. It was perhaps 2 o’clock in the afternoon and I waited till 10 o’clock at night. I was still not brave enough to leave so I continued to remain in the stable for the second, third and fourth day. I ate only carrots and raw cabbage which were in the stable. These eventually ran out and I decided to go and see the peasant owner. I was wearing prison clothes that I received in AUSCHWITZ from that SS man who spared my life. I hid (sewed up) those places on my clothing that had prison marks.
I opened the stable door and I saw a figure behind the door holding on to the fence. I asked him “Amhu?” (A Yiddish expression for “are you a Jew”?). He replied “yes”. I asked him his name. He replied MOSHEK ZUKERMAN and he also said “do you remember how I walked from BIRKENAU to BUNA and I escaped and from that time I had nothing to eat”. “I have a ‘browning’ with me”. I took the revolver from him and said to him “now either we die or we live”. He was however afraid, and asked if we could rush back to join the walking column with the aim of getting into the camp, but I did not agree. “Either we perish or we will be free”. If he would want to stay with me, we would live like two brothers. I was a 16 year old and he was also my age. I walked into the hut. The owner of the hut seemed like an intelligent person. I told him that I was a Jew and I asked him for food and if I could sleep over. He received me politely, permitted us to sleep over and I promised that the next day we will leave. I told him that I was not alone. However, I did not trust him at all even though he behaved towards me politely. I saw that he was saying something to his 14 year old son, the boy wandered around the hut for a little while then he finally disappeared. I knew that the village was only 5 kilometres from town. When I entered the court yard to fetch my friend Moniek, some Polish girl let me know that she wanted to tell me something. She turned out to be Jewish but passed herself on as an Aryan and lived with a neighbour. However, at that time I did not know this. She told me that the owner of the hut had sent his son to get the gendarmerie which had to arrive the following morning. We returned to the hut, ate supper then went to sleep. I woke up at 1.30 at night. No one was at home; all the doors and windows were locked. I woke up my friend and we immediately got dressed. My friend was uneasy, he was extremely afraid that we’ve had it (our situation was dire). I calmed him down and decided to break the windows. I was bashing with an axe and he with a shovel. We found these tools in the hut. We jumped out through the opening. We found the owner in the other hut. He was alone. I called him to come to the window but he wouldn’t come. I took out my pistol and he then came up. I told him that I knew what he had arranged (what he was up to), that he sent his son to get the gendarmerie so that they would take us away. I said to him “I don’t have a father, I don’t have a mother, and I don’t have brothers. I don’t have sisters. All of them went to the Krematoria. You are a murderer, you wanted also me to die, but you will also die.” I waited for a signal from my friend to indicate that no one was around. I shot at him four times and we ran off, this was around 4 o’clock in the morning. He was running in front of me. Three kilometres separated us from the forest. In the distance I noticed SS-men walking in our direction. It appeared that they were going hunting. In a matter of a moment I threw down the revolver, covering it with dirt and I made myself a mark on a tree, and I walked by next to them. When I had already passed them they stopped me and asked me where I was going so early. I replied that I was going to my aunt and I had another 10 kilometres to walk therefore I had to leave at daybreak. Satisfied with my reply they continued on their way. I returned for the revolver and went to the forest. Here in the forest I met up with Moniek and with a group of around 20 Jews. They had a machine gun and an underground bunker. Recognising that I was a Jew they accepted me. My friend however did not want to stay and talked me into returning to our town and I agreed to this. We walked for 12 days through hills, fields and forests and in the end we got there. This was a time of raids on the Poles to take them to work in Germany. We managed to penetrate the ghetto but I did not find any of my family members there except an uncle with his family. It wasn’t good for me to stay with them and I regretted being talked into returning back.
After two days a liquidation action began and everyone was taken to AUSCHWITZ. Again I found myself in this terrible camp. I felt that this time I will not survive. I was in BIRKENAU for 2 days where I went through registration, my hand was tattooed with the number 19610 and I went through a medical examination. When I found out that 1500 people were going to the BUNA camp I attached myself to that group. Everyone was gathered up into the square, a search was carried out and they took away all belongings even spoons, knives and canteens. Then a bath followed after which we were fed (we received 1 litre of soup each) and we were sent to BUNA. We walked 8 kilometres for two hours. When we arrived at our destination again we went through a bath and we received fresh underwear (a shirt and underpants) as well as prison clothes and shoes. Then there was a roll call, again we were registered and we went to work. I was employed as a “dachdecker” (a roofer). I was 3 months in BUNA. Winter was approaching. We suffered through the entire period of hunger and misery. We didn’t receive any more clothing for the winter and we also did not go to the baths. We did not work on a Sunday but we devoted our time taking care of our clothes and in spite of the cold we washed our clothes. During work we were beaten by the SS men and the Kapo (REICHSDEUTSCHE). The Russians were getting closer and BUNA was bombed. I was wounded in the leg by a bomb splinter, but it healed in a short time.
On 18th January 1945 the camp was evacuated. We were 14000 people. We were chased on foot at night in the direction of GLIWIC. We arrived into that city. We were beaten and many were shot to death. Train wagons arrived into the camp and into the open train wagons were loaded 160 people per wagon. We travelled for 12 days. On the way around 10,000 people died as a result of hunger, cold and suffocation. I was again with my friend Moniek. We virtually ate nothing during the entire journey. From time to time when the train stopped we had to take out the corpses from the wagons and lay them out in other wagons which were assigned for transporting corpses. During this time we had the opportunity to drink a little water from the locomotive. Once we received half a bread each and 5 dekagram of hard margarine. I then came out of my apathy and I took on new courage to continue living. I felt that I will live through these difficult times and I recall the songs that were sung in the camp:
(The songs are written in Yiddish using the Latin alphabet – the following is a translation).
“Not far away, there stands the UMSZLAGPLAC
And they are shoving each other abreast into the wagons
Suddenly a scream is heard
Like a child screams to its mother
Why do you leave me here?
I will not come to you again
I will no more suffer poverty
I will receive three kilo of bread
In this way they fooled them
With three kilo of bread
And they were chased quicker to their death
Treblinka is for everyone a resting place
Whoever comes stays there
They remain forever, they are laying there
Sisters, brothers, father, mother
They were poisoned there
There is their place of rest
Little heart be silent, little heart be silent
Don’t let on that you are a Jew”.
We arrived to NORDHAUSEN and the camp was called DORA. We were registered (21st January). We were producing ammunition in a tunnel. We worked for another 3 weeks. After we were evacuated again to RABENSBRUKEN where we stayed until the 20th of April. Then we started receiving parcels through the Red Cross. English food parcels, the best things. We were given these parcels. They began to treat us better. We travelled further in better conditions, with only 70 per carriage and we were provided on our journey bread (1/2 a loaf per person). The SS men now received only 1 kilogram of bread per person and 10 dekagram of margarine as there was already nothing to eat. When we were already 50 kilometres from Berlin a Kapo would come up to each carriage and try to win over our favour, he ordered us to sing the Hatikva explaining that each country is fighting for its own freedom. But his motive in fact was to obtain from us some provisions which we had more of than they did. We were held in some camp. During the last day before the Americans arrived a muster parade was held during which it was announced that 36 Jews were missing. The APPELFUHRER was surprised that “so few were missing”. We also had with us Russian prisoners who were experiencing terrible hunger. They sometimes ate human flesh as result of hunger, I saw this myself. We shared our food with them which we received in our parcels and we lived with them peacefully.
It was the 1st of May 1945. Again we were put into carriages in LUDWIGLUSC but there was already no way that was clear to travel. We remained stationary at the railway station from 6 in the evening to 10 in the morning. We were let out of the carriages and again into the camp, and because there were very many SS men, around 1000 and well armed we thought that they wanted to finish us off in this camp. From 11 to 12 there was again a muster parade. We were ordered to go into the block house and we were told “whoever wants to can come with us and who does not want to can remain here.” We expected that those who remained in the camp would be executed so we all decided to go. I already knew that the SS men were packed and were fleeing. Three elderly SS men remained and the civilians remained who were teaching other civilians how to shoot. I did not trust the Germans and I wanted to run away from the block house, but then through the window I saw near the forest an American tank. I raised the alarm in the block. We ran out of the block house, we were about 1000. Twenty of us attacked the Germans, we took away from them their machine gun and we shot them dead on the spot. We tore down the barbed wire and we ran up to the Americans. The English and the Americans gave us uniforms and we fought alongside with them. For 6 weeks I was with the allied armies and things were very good for me. I had the opportunity to travel to America, but I preferred to return to Poland so as to find out if any of my close relatives were alive. However unfortunately I did not find anyone alive. I left (went away) from my city of birth not wanting to look at the emptiness.
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Mrs Jadwiga Sapera