European Resistance Archive/European Resistance Archive (ERA)

But us children, we didn’t understand that and didn’t keep quiet.

We kept looking out to see what was going on

until we saw that they were marching our family and relatives off.

We were frightened then.

Only then did we realize that there was danger.

They came to the neighbour’s house

after that and there was an argument in the yard.

We were frightened that they would take the neighbour, as well, and deport her.

After an hour it went quiet.

Then the neighbour came and said we could come out now.

It was such a relief that she came to us.

I don’t know what would have happened, if we – little children – would have stayed on our own.

The oldest one was six,

then three years, four years and I was five years old.

A cousin of mine had stayed at home.

She was suffering with a contagious infection, scabies.

The Gestapo saw that and did not take her. They were frightened of being infected.

She came to the neighbour’s.

The neighbour said that we could not stay with her, because she had five children of her own

and she was alone with them, as well.