St. Georgenthal

It’s so peculiar. I had one Aufseherin [female guard] and she had a pair of earrings, was always shaking in her ear. And whenever I see – first of all I would never buy earrings that shake – you know what I mean? Because that woman always reminds me, poor woman I’m sure she’s dead a long time ago but you know the way she patsched [slapped] you and the thing in her face you know shaking. And every time I see somebody wearing earrings like this so I just keep away from it. Maybe it’s the personal things I suppose you remember.

...there was a rumour that Germany is losing and we’ll be liberated. Everybody shush-shushking, you know. And then all of a sudden the Russkies arrived… the Russians come, and a big yomtov, you know, singing and dancing. And then they showed their maleness, you know. All they wanted is just to rape you and dancing together and all they wanted…And even what the Germans gave you, they had a priority. I never! Mind you I was told these people came from back and beyond from Russia. They were never out and in desperation they draw in anybody for the army, and they just throw them anywhere where they thought would be useful. But that was so heart breaking, you know. If you could have seen how we’re hiding in the toilet – in a giant big toilet. And flooded with, with shmutz (filth). And we had to hide there otherwise they’d just finish you off. You know when I think of that scene, it’s really a miracle that you didn’t drop there. But you didn’t want them, so they went away, the Russkies, because they had to go further to liberate. No, at first they went with us to zabrane – You know what zabrane is? Stealing, that’s a Russian word. ‘Come on, come on! Zabrane! Zabrane!’ And they went to every German house, they went. Whatever they could – not they, we - whatever they could, and whatever we could we taken. You know for six months I wore a little dress – a two year-old baby’s dress – pink baby’s dress I was wearing. I had no other thing. And then the morning we go on the fields to try to find some beetroots or whatever there is on the soil, because they gave you nothing, the Russians. You see when the English liberated and the Americans the Lager were full of you know food and everything. That’s also overdone because they had some typhus, and it wasn’t ideal for the body to take it. But still better than the Russian done it.