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Later soldiers of the Vlasov brigade came and one never knew who was who. The Vlasovs also had red uniforms and looked like partisans. My mother lost her nerves, we didn’t know what had happened to our father. So I went to the German commandeer and asked for permission to travel to Bratislava. It was a very bad idea. They could have caught us already during the journey. On the journey we talked with a woman; it was clear she was fed up with the fascist regime, so I trusted her and told her about our situation. It was a lucky chance because Germans and Slovak police were patrolling at the station. Her husband, who was a policeman, met her at the station. He also hugged both my mother and me and with the words, ‘Welcome, our family, we were already waiting for you’, he took us out of the station and gave us shelter in his home.
In the end, my father found us and joined us. Once a German from Holic came and he recognized us in a roundup. We were all caught. They first took us to Vlckova Street, to a Secret Police station. My father was kept there, whereas my mother and me were brought to Sered and on 6th December we were transported to Ravensbruck. The transport was originally routed to Auschwitz, but, fortunately, Auschwitz didn’t accept us.
From the distance we saw houses which were similar to the houses built in our neighborhood. I couldn’t believe everything I heard before and at first I was happy that the rumors weren’t right. I said to my mother, that we would live and work there. On the gate there was the inscription ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’, so I thought I was right. In this camp [Ravensbruck] with its jungle law, under horrible conditions, where only few could keep their human face, even there I found some solidarity and help.
When we were still in the Waschraum, something like a bathroom, we didn’t know what would come out of the showers, if it was gas or water, because we already understood the seriousness of the situation. So I asked a French prisoner, who was there to keep order, if I could drink the water. And she answered, ‘It’s all the same, whether you die now or later’. This was such an introduction to the reality. It was water, not gas, that came out of the shower heads. Most of the girls had their heads shaved; I was somehow lucky, I wasn’t shaved. We were wet, it was December, Ravensbruck is located in the north, and we had to stand outside… I don’t know what to say about the concentration camp, it was horrible. It was really horrible…
I survived half a year there, but it marked me for the rest of my life. I caught kidney tuberculosis and I wouldn’t have survived four or five years in a concentration camp, as some girls have.
In the end, my father found us and joined us. Once a German from Holic came and he recognized us in a roundup. We were all caught. They first took us to Vlckova Street, to a Secret Police station. My father was kept there, whereas my mother and me were brought to Sered and on 6th December we were transported to Ravensbruck. The transport was originally routed to Auschwitz, but, fortunately, Auschwitz didn’t accept us.
From the distance we saw houses which were similar to the houses built in our neighborhood. I couldn’t believe everything I heard before and at first I was happy that the rumors weren’t right. I said to my mother, that we would live and work there. On the gate there was the inscription ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’, so I thought I was right. In this camp [Ravensbruck] with its jungle law, under horrible conditions, where only few could keep their human face, even there I found some solidarity and help.
When we were still in the Waschraum, something like a bathroom, we didn’t know what would come out of the showers, if it was gas or water, because we already understood the seriousness of the situation. So I asked a French prisoner, who was there to keep order, if I could drink the water. And she answered, ‘It’s all the same, whether you die now or later’. This was such an introduction to the reality. It was water, not gas, that came out of the shower heads. Most of the girls had their heads shaved; I was somehow lucky, I wasn’t shaved. We were wet, it was December, Ravensbruck is located in the north, and we had to stand outside… I don’t know what to say about the concentration camp, it was horrible. It was really horrible…
I survived half a year there, but it marked me for the rest of my life. I caught kidney tuberculosis and I wouldn’t have survived four or five years in a concentration camp, as some girls have.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Ema Panovova