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In those days there was a bus connection between Prague and Bergen-Belsen. It used to take home the survivors. It worked as follows. By the kitchen there was an office. It was headed by an English captain who spoke Czech. There was also an English soldier named Foltyn. This office functioned as a "consulate". They investigated from which family, who survived, and where he was. They were also persuading people to not return home, but to go to the USA, the Palestine, or whereever they might want to go. As there were a lot of children there that had lost their families, they investigated where they had relatives. When someone said that they had family anywhere in the world, they contacted those relatives and asked whether they wanted to take them in. The driver of the bus that used to come there would also write down names. We dictate our names and address to him. He went back and forth every week. Once he came to see us and told us that our father was alive, that he was in Prague and was looking for us. It really was true. Alas, when we arrived in Prague, all we found was a note on the doors of one school where people were also leaving messages. The trip from Bergen-Belsen to Prague was long. We were passing from the American sector to the English one, and we had to wait a long time at this "border". I remember that it was in Köln, Nuremberg, and finally in Pilsen in Czechoslovakia. Everywhere they checked our papers, and then fed us. The bus was full of children and also a few mothers too. There might have been about 35 people. I'd guess that about two thirds were children. The trip to Prague took about a week.
I'd like to mention one incident. On Sunday at around 4:00 p.m. we arrived in Pilsen. The bus stopped in a square in front of a large church. Our guide, who was traveling along with the driver, got out. He was probably arranging where we'd eat. In the meantime some old ladies came out of the church, and when they saw us, they started weeping. I remember that right there in the street they organized a collection and collected 100 crowns for each one of us.
We arrived in Prague at around 8:30 p.m. It was just getting dark. They put us up in Branik. We stayed there for about two weeks. We also met with our cousin Leo Lichtenstein, who'd changed his name to Liska. He helped us register at the repatriation office. We got ID and some money. A Catholic charity gave us some more money. In Prague I also went to the hospital, because of my frostbitten feet. It was from my too-small shoes. They were almost all black, up to my knees. There they re-bandaged and washed them. They X-rayed my lungs, and similar things. It was in the hospital where Leo was a doctor. Then we wandered around Prague. We were at Hradcany, Charles Bridge, and Wenceslaus Square. We walked up and down and watched what was going on around us. We couldn't get any further in the direction of Bratislava. It was possible to buy train tickets, but they were dissuading us. The were saying for us to wait, that we'd get tickets. So we waited for our turn to come up. The trip from Prague to Bratislava took all day. The train was so packed full that people were even sitting on the roof. In Bratislava, dormitories had been set up on what is today Slovak National Uprising Square. During the war it was named Adolf Hitler Platz. In the room we were assigned, there were beds for about 10 to 15 people. It was just an overnight bed, nothing more. There we stayed for a few days and waited for an opportunity to get to Piestany. Finally we got to our home town, where our father was waiting for us with my cousin Lulo Sohnenfeld, who later took the surname Urban. Another couple of people were waiting along with them. They were standing a few meters away from us, didn't come any closer, and wept.
I'd like to mention one incident. On Sunday at around 4:00 p.m. we arrived in Pilsen. The bus stopped in a square in front of a large church. Our guide, who was traveling along with the driver, got out. He was probably arranging where we'd eat. In the meantime some old ladies came out of the church, and when they saw us, they started weeping. I remember that right there in the street they organized a collection and collected 100 crowns for each one of us.
We arrived in Prague at around 8:30 p.m. It was just getting dark. They put us up in Branik. We stayed there for about two weeks. We also met with our cousin Leo Lichtenstein, who'd changed his name to Liska. He helped us register at the repatriation office. We got ID and some money. A Catholic charity gave us some more money. In Prague I also went to the hospital, because of my frostbitten feet. It was from my too-small shoes. They were almost all black, up to my knees. There they re-bandaged and washed them. They X-rayed my lungs, and similar things. It was in the hospital where Leo was a doctor. Then we wandered around Prague. We were at Hradcany, Charles Bridge, and Wenceslaus Square. We walked up and down and watched what was going on around us. We couldn't get any further in the direction of Bratislava. It was possible to buy train tickets, but they were dissuading us. The were saying for us to wait, that we'd get tickets. So we waited for our turn to come up. The trip from Prague to Bratislava took all day. The train was so packed full that people were even sitting on the roof. In Bratislava, dormitories had been set up on what is today Slovak National Uprising Square. During the war it was named Adolf Hitler Platz. In the room we were assigned, there were beds for about 10 to 15 people. It was just an overnight bed, nothing more. There we stayed for a few days and waited for an opportunity to get to Piestany. Finally we got to our home town, where our father was waiting for us with my cousin Lulo Sohnenfeld, who later took the surname Urban. Another couple of people were waiting along with them. They were standing a few meters away from us, didn't come any closer, and wept.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Ladislav Urban