European Resistance Archive/European Resistance Archive (ERA)
-
I think we were a hundred thousand prisoners.
-
Birkenau was especially huge.
-
Then we found out that Birkenau was no holiday resort.
-
The days were very long: from 4h00 or 5h00 in the morning ‘til 21h00, 22h00 in the evening,
-
because if one of the 22,300 people was missing during the evening role-call, he had to be found.
-
We had to stay standing until this person was found. Sometimes we spent whole nights outside.
-
Some people hid, some escaped and then we had to stand until the following morning, in summer, and winter.
-
The winters in Upper Silesia are very cold, terrible. We lost many men there.
-
Our days began at 4h00 or 5h00 with a first role-call.
-
They handed out a brew that they called herbata in our mugs,
-
which we should absolutely not lose, and which we could never wash. Then we left for work.
-
Yes, we thought of it. There were three or four of us. We tried to find ways of fighting, but it was practically impossible.
-
There was a room leader who was to keep control. There also were leaders for each building.
-
And there were also team leaders, themselves being deported prisoners.
-
Often they were Germans, Poles.
-
It was very difficult, very hard. We got lots of beatings.
-
In the beginning we thought we shouldn’t take that, but we soon saw that there was no way out, as life there was so terrible.
-
It was difficult to form a group.
-
Those of us that had been arrested as French resistance fighters were scattered.
-
They knew exactly who we were.
No more segments to load.
Loading more segments…
© 2009-2024 WebTranslateIt Software S.L. All rights reserved.
Terms of Service
·
Privacy Policy
·
Security Policy