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In April 1944 the family was taken to the ghetto at the brick factory, formerly owned by the Jew Moshkovich, in Uzhgorod. A month later they were put on the train to Auschwitz. In the railcar my mother felt very ill and often fainted. She hardly realized anything. She sat on the floor in a corner. Somehow, my brother managed to keep his flick knife in his pocket that the gendarmes missed during the search. He made a hole in the wall of the railcar to let in some fresh air for my mother.
When the train arrived at Auschwitz, my mother couldn’t walk. My father carried her in his arms from the railcar and went to the gas chamber with her. They sorted out those who could work and those who were to be exterminated immediately. My parents and Miklos, Romola’s little son, were taken to one side, and Frantisek, Judit, Magda and Romola were taken to the other side.
Romola didn’t want to leave her son and went with him. She knew that she was going to die, but she preferred to die with her son rather than live without him. They were taken to a public shower that was actually a gas chamber. There were no survivors there.
Frantisek was taken to Buchenwald, Judie – to the work camp Bergen-Belsen [23]. Magda was in the work camp in Reichenbach.
The plant in the work camp Bergen-Belsen did dry distillation of coal, the products of which were used for military equipment. My sister and 50 other girls from Uzhgorod, including both daughters of cabinetmaker Hotzman, our neighbor, worked at this plant. Judit had education and knew German well. She worked in the canteen, talking to food suppliers for the inmates.
When the train arrived at Auschwitz, my mother couldn’t walk. My father carried her in his arms from the railcar and went to the gas chamber with her. They sorted out those who could work and those who were to be exterminated immediately. My parents and Miklos, Romola’s little son, were taken to one side, and Frantisek, Judit, Magda and Romola were taken to the other side.
Romola didn’t want to leave her son and went with him. She knew that she was going to die, but she preferred to die with her son rather than live without him. They were taken to a public shower that was actually a gas chamber. There were no survivors there.
Frantisek was taken to Buchenwald, Judie – to the work camp Bergen-Belsen [23]. Magda was in the work camp in Reichenbach.
The plant in the work camp Bergen-Belsen did dry distillation of coal, the products of which were used for military equipment. My sister and 50 other girls from Uzhgorod, including both daughters of cabinetmaker Hotzman, our neighbor, worked at this plant. Judit had education and knew German well. She worked in the canteen, talking to food suppliers for the inmates.
Period
Year
1944
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Stepan Neuman