Kaiserwald

The Commandant arranged for us to get food, soldiers’ food from the day before, which we fetched, not very good food of course, he arranged that we got this food from the soldiers kitchen. He also arranged that we came to work in this lab on Sundays, in order that we didn’t have to work in the camp, which we would have had to do. He also arranged that we were not put to hard labour after our work, when we came back to the camp. We had the use of the soldiers’ bath, which was unheard of. And we had another privilege, a piece of paper - the prisoner so-and-so is authorised to wear his hair long; we were not shorn like prisoners. So the local Jews, who worked there, had also hidden, I suppose, their own money, from before they were transferred. They had money deposited, probably, I didn’t know, probably deposited with the boiler man. And there, on that Sunday when the soldiers were absent and officially no work, there they had an easy life, and food, all kind of food, which was available on the black market - chicken, fish, white bread, whatever you like, they had it. They were-. I was present-. They were all local men. So they lived quite comfortable on that day. But I of course, being a German Jew, didn’t have that privilege. But one day I saw the Commandant coming in, and finding an open plaster tan and found the butter in pound packages and fried fish and what have you. He also found, they had a newspaper of a later edition than the commandant had himself, so his reaction was to order his sergeant to tell our foreman to hide it better, not to be forced to notice it.