Jakub Nojfeld-Grinfeld with his mates

This is my friend Jakub Nojfeld-Grinfeld, the first from left, with his mates after the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp near Munich. In this picture they make fun of  how Germans used to punish prisoners - they gave them a trashing. I don’t know the names of the other people in the picture. I received this photo from my friend Jakub Nojfeld-Grinfeld. I don’t know where it was taken, somewhere near Munich but I don’t know where exactly or when, some time in the 1940s, after the war.

Before World War II one of my older brothers found me a place and I went to learn to sew on the overlock, as a knitter. I cut these thick knitwear materials that were later used to make women's underwear. I learned from the so-called marshal, who used to sing at Jewish weddings. He was Jakub’s father. His name was Ici Bucik. Bucik [Polish for 'little shoe'] was of course a pseudonym. His real last name was Nojfeld. He had this fat belly and a red beard. He took me in as an apprentice. I was supposed to learn for three years and I stayed for less than three months. I don't know why, but when Saturday came I took the keys to the workshop and I began taking the machines apart. I wanted to familiarize myself with this, because I got the knack for mechanics. I learned everything very quickly and I didn't have to study to be a knitter. I only got 50 grosze a week. 

Photos from this interviewee