My parents came home with the Swedish Schutzpass, and from somewhere they got hold of a Swiss Schutzpass, too. The Swiss one was was fake, of course, and then a short time passed until the proclamation in October. [see Horthy’s proclamation]11 At the news of the proclamation there was enormous happiness, we took off the yellow stars from the coats and threw them down from upstairs.Bbut in the afternoon we could already see -- from the 5th floor of Hollan Street 3 we could see the Szent Istvan Boulevard very well, the long lines of people being driven by Arrow Cross men. And the Arrow Cross men came to the house, too, and they took all the men and women to the race track [see Tattersal]12, where there was some kind of a concentration place. They took my parents and my brother, too, and other teenage boys from the house, but they believed that my brother wasn’t fourteen yet, because he was a skinny child, so he came home. At the same time there was a very cute boy in the house, who was one year younger than my brother -- or maybe he was just fourteen, I don’t remember -- but he was a well-grown, muscular kid, and they didn’t believe that he was fourteen, so neither him nor his mother came home. But my brother came home, and so I wasn’t alone. Perhaps I wouldn’t have survivied if he hadn’t come home.
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Displaying 47911 - 47940 of 50340 results
Gyorgyike Hasko
Then they deported my parents, the women and men separately from the Tattersal. My father told me, and my mother did too, that they put some blanket on the ground, and everyone had to put there his watch, ring, necklace or anything he had. The Arrow Cross men took everything from them. Arrow Cross men guarded them, as far as I remember. I don’t know where they took my mother, perhaps to Szentendre island, where they made them dig roadblocks, so if the Russians came they wouldn’t be able to go through. My father dug in Pocsmegyer. Needless to say, they were wearing their own clothes, and I don’t know what they ate, or what they were given to eat.
We were lining up there when my father arrived. Because they accepted one of his Schutzpasses 13 and let him come home.
I became a member of the trust committee, I was in the presidency next to the director, the party secretary, the trade union confidential secretary and the secretary of the Association of Communist Youth. So that was an advantaged situation. A huge change! You can imagine: a everyday woman from the lab just starts to go to the office of the director. I knew all the managers, all the party secretaries, all the trade union confidential secretaries. I got among very decent people, countryman, and people from Pest. And there was a lot to of besides the labor organization work, they also stressed the task of the co-operative to help the production. There was a meeting in the director’s office every week, and we got the material. At first I didn’t understand much from the economic part, but representation and holding a meeting never caused me any problems. I surprised my entourage very much with this, because I’m sure that they didn’t suppose that I could stand in front of the 1200 employees of the institute and tell them what I wanted or what I had to say.
At this time I was already a grandmother, and I took my grandchildren, too, to [Balaton] Almadi. It happened that my son-in-law, my daughter and their children or my son, my daughter-in-law and their two sons were with me. I got a SZOT room there, where I could take the entire family. The resort had big sailboats, power-boats, and the children went to help on the boat, and the Germans loved to sail, I don’t know how many times a day the sailboat floated off. I took my grandchildren, one at a time, to the GDR, too. So they also saw many things and were at many places.
Then, this was about three years ago, she told me that they were looking for a Jewish community tax collector in three districts. I told her that I had never done such a thing in my life, but I would give it a try. This was sometime in February, and from the 1st March I started working in the 8th district, the Nagyfuvaros Street district. I have been doing it ever since, and I can say that they receive me with love everywhere.
Vladimir Tseitlin
Our family was friendly and bonded. Mother was very kind and hospitable. Our house was full of guests: mother’s pals and friends, relatives, who lived in Moscow. Brothers often came from Smolensk. Father had many friends. Father read a lot and was an erudite. He had rich library. He also nurtured in me love to books.
,
Before WW2
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Having discharged from the hospital, father entered the party of Bolsheviks [8] being captivated with the communist ideas. He was overwhelmed in the revolutionary work. After the Revolution of 1917 [9] father was appointed the deputy head of Smolensk municipal militia. During the Civil War he was appointed the commissar [political officer][10] of the anti-gang squad, to be more exact the struggle against Makhno [11] gang. Father liked to go back to that time. He went to have talks with Makhno in his residence Guyai-Pole [about 800 km to the south from Moscow]. The talks were held regarding Makhno joining the Red Army, but they did not come to an agreement. In 1934 when father worked in France he met Makhno, who immigrated to France, at the Russian Embassy. I lived in France with my father and remember that episode. Makhno asked for a permit to come back to Russia under condition of security guarantee. He must have not been guaranteed security as he stayed in France. Father took part in the Civil War until 1920. Then father was demobilized from the army and was involved in financial and economic work. He was an educated person. There were few people like that back at that time. Parents moved to Moscow before I was born. Father was given an apartment in a large (for those times) 7-storied house in the center of Moscow at Nikitinskiy boulevard. It was a separate 2-room apartment, which was rare for that period of time as overwhelming majority of USSR population lived in poky communal apartments [12].
Mother got some elementary medical education. It must have been courses for the nurses. Mother was a housewife after getting married.
,
Before WW2
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During WW2 one of mother’s brothers was a partisan in Smolensk oblast and perished in the guerilla squad.
,
During WW2
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The family was religious. All mother’s siblings went to cheder. Mother did not go to cheder, but she got Jewish education at home. Mother’s brothers had lived in their native town all their life. They rarely came over. One my cousin Zyama Havkin came to Moscow to study in 1927. He graduated from aviation school, then Moscow aviation institute. Upon graduation Zyama got a mandatory job assignment to Moscow aviation plant to work as an engine expert.
,
Before WW2
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Mother was always called Russian name [common name] [7] Mariana.
,
Before WW2
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The youngest brother Samuel was in the support staff of different departments by the ministry of the USSR.
,
Before WW2
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Father’s second brother Aronwas at the lead of the Smolensk DepartmentOsoaviakhim. [Editorial’s note: The society of assistance in defense and aviation and chemical construction, it was a mass volunteer organization of USSR citizens, existing from 1927 till 1948. The aim was to assist the army in military training of the civilians and nurturing patriotic spirit in them.]Aron had 2 daughters – Larissa and Zinaida. Both of them are alive and live in Moscow. We call each other sometime. When WW2 was unleashed, Aron went to the front and died in 1941.
, Russia
Father’s second brother Aronwas at the lead of the Smolensk DepartmentOsoaviakhim. [Editorial’s note: The society of assistance in defense and aviation and chemical construction, it was a mass volunteer organization of USSR citizens, existing from 1927 till 1948. The aim was to assist the army in military training of the civilians and nurturing patriotic spirit in them.]Aron had 2 daughters – Larissa and Zinaida. Both of them are alive and live in Moscow. We call each other sometime. When WW2 was unleashed, Aron went to the front and died in 1941.
When the war was over Haim retired and settled in Moscow. He was married. He had two children – son Jacob and daughter Sarah. Both of them were born in 1920s. During the war Jacob was drafted in the army. He died in the first year of the war.
None of father’s brothers, but Haim got special education. He finished financial school and then had worked as a financier all his life. Haim was drafted in the tsarist army at the very end of the WW1, but he was not in action since the war was over. Haim was the head of the regional finance department of Russian NKVD [4] from the pre-war period till the outbreak of the WW2 [Great Patriotic War][5]. He worked in Smolensk for a long time and then he was transferred to Crimea. He had worked in Vologda [Russia, 400 km to the North-East from Moscow].
,
Before WW2
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When WW1 was over, father was drafted in the army. He was not drafted in specific troops. He was assigned an officer as he was educated. Father was a gun-soldier in the lines. He was wounded in the front and was sent to hospital in Smolensk.It was a hospital for the wounded Jews and all medical workers were Jews. My mother Mariana Havkina worked in that hospital as a nurse. My parents were young. They fell in love with each other and got married shortly after they had met, while father was still being treated in the hospital. They had a traditional Jewish wedding in accordance with the rites.
,
Before WW2
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When grandfather was alive my father managed to finish realschule [3]in Smolensk. He worked in the local bank after finishing school.
,
Before WW2
See text in interview
She could not even dream of higher education for her children. It was even harder with the outbreak of the WW1.
,
Before WW2
See text in interview
Children were raised as Jews. They went to cheder. They knew Ivrit and prayers. Jewish traditions were observed at home. Sabbath and Jewish holidays were marked at home. The family belonged to middle class. Grandfather wanted all children to get education, but he did not manage.
,
Before WW2
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In England grandfather was not a baker. He worked at the steam engine manufacturing plant as a mechanic. He liked the job very much as it gave him the opportunity to use his potential, but the climate was not OK with him. His health was poorer. The doctor said that he had some sort of lung disease and he was recommended to return to his motherland. Grandparents and their little son came back to Smolensk.
,
Before WW2
See text in interview
I still keep certificate of master of bakery belonging to my grandfather. In accordance with that certificate Mstsislaw dweller Zalman Faibishev Tseitlin was given rights and royalties of a guild master as per order of the Emperor. Grandfather was permitted to live in Smolensk not within the Jewish Pale of Settlement [1]. Grandmother was a housewife and raised children.
When we crossed Carpathian ridge, battles commenced in Eastern Slovakia and in the cities Mukachevo, Uzhgorod. Slovakian tongue was approximated to Russian and we were able to understand each other very well. The population of that territory cordially welcomed us because Eastern Slovakia had been under yoke of the fascist Hungary since 1938. People were rejoicing in liberation.
There were fierce battles in Slovakia. Once German gunners hid behind the powerful walls of the gas plant on the outskirt of a village without letting our infantry keep their heads up because of the incessant artillery fire. 76-mm cannons could not pierce brick walls of their shelter. The division commander called me and told to shoot from howitzer over open sights. One howitzer was set over the open sights and after short trial shots all German gunners were exterminated by 3 shells. Being a gunner I can boast in our material part as well as in training of our soldiers, which was better than German’s. That is why artillery was called ‘the god of war’. It played the most important role both in defense from the German tanks and during assault, clearing the way for the infantry.
I was heavily wounded in the thorax with the fragment of blasted shell during the liberation of Bratislava. All my foot bones were crushed. I was in the hospital. I underwent operation and then I changed couple of hospitals. I met the victory day in the hospital.
There were fierce battles in Slovakia. Once German gunners hid behind the powerful walls of the gas plant on the outskirt of a village without letting our infantry keep their heads up because of the incessant artillery fire. 76-mm cannons could not pierce brick walls of their shelter. The division commander called me and told to shoot from howitzer over open sights. One howitzer was set over the open sights and after short trial shots all German gunners were exterminated by 3 shells. Being a gunner I can boast in our material part as well as in training of our soldiers, which was better than German’s. That is why artillery was called ‘the god of war’. It played the most important role both in defense from the German tanks and during assault, clearing the way for the infantry.
I was heavily wounded in the thorax with the fragment of blasted shell during the liberation of Bratislava. All my foot bones were crushed. I was in the hospital. I underwent operation and then I changed couple of hospitals. I met the victory day in the hospital.
,
During WW2
See text in interview
Our division took part in liberating Budapest. The attack commenced on the 5thof December 1944 in the area to the north-east from Budapest and the city itself was captured on the 5thof February 1945. There were long battles. We encircled the city and positioned on two banks of Danube. We succeeded in the first stage of our attack: we broke though German positions and moved forward. The infantry was ahead, followed by artillery. The commandment was reported on the breakthrough. Tank army also joined us to support the breakthrough. I was on the outskirt of a hamlet in the observation point and saw our tanks moving in two rows along the highway. The hamlet was practically taken, only couple German tanks hid away there. Those tanks opened fire on our column of tanks. Some of our tanks were punctured and started burning. They could not support infantry. I understood that the next stage would be firing at the hamlet from long-range artillery weapons. It was not known whether Germans would suffer from that, but we definitely would suffer. I sent a soldier for him to reach our buttoned up tanks and making a use of the radio connection I reported that the hamlet was practically taken by us. I also added that there was commandment of the rifle regiment and asked our gun soldiers not to fire at us. It was hard for the soldier to cross the territory under fire, but he managed to do that and sent the message like I asked. We remained alive the troops made a precipitant advance and approached Budapest. There was enough distance to fire at the city. Though we lacked the shells, there was enough for us to make 4 salvoes at the outskirts of Budapest. When the capital was captured, Hungarians finally joined our troops and subordinated to the general commandment. I remembered another case. During our stay in Hungary local people, Hungarians, came over to me asking to protect them from Romanians, who were killing and raping. I had to send my soldiers to protect the civilians.
In 1944, when we were in Subcarpathia [33], I felt Jewish solidarity and assistance for the first time. I decided to take a picture with other officers and send the photo to my parents. We went to the photo saloon, but its host, an elderly Jew, said that he would not be able to take our pictures as he ran out of photo materials, We were about to leave and then the host asked whether I was a Jew. I did not look like a true Jew, so I was surprised by the question. I said that I was a Jew. Then he said that he would take only my picture by using his reserve and would not spend precious materials on the others. I was really taken aback, there were no things like that in USSR. It was the first time I thought that Jews must have survived because they had been supporting each other in the course of many generations.
,
1944
See text in interview
There were other funny stories. We fought on the territory of the Western Ukraine for the city of Ivano-Frankivsk [about 1500 km to the south-west from Moscow]. The city was defended by Hungarians. The war was winding and Hungarians were aware of it. So, they tried to be on our side and not to resist. That is why Germans sent their squads trying to stop our attack. Germans sent the tanks against us and we were running out of shells. Only three shells left and those were smoke shells. Smoke screen was not a toxic smoke, but a stinky one. We had no choice but to shoot with them. There were clouds of smoke and when the smoke was dispersed we saw Germans getting out of tanks and stampeding. They must have thought that they were burning and left the tanks. Our infantry rushed to the tanks to get the trophies.
There was also an interesting case at the forced crossing of Dnepr during attacking the town of Stanislav, Khersonsk oblast [about 1200 km to the south-west Moscow]. When our infantry was crossing Dnepr, German bombers were strenuously bombing the crossing. Our troops were plainly visible and we did not have aircraft guns to bring down German planes. Then the division commander suggested that I should make a fraudulent maneuver. We had shells with remote control explosives in our ammunition sets. These were the shells which could be exploded in any trajectory point of their flight. They were meant for the troops. The shell exploded at the distance of 10m before the trenches, where the infantry was hiding so that the fragments of the shells hit the infantry. So we had to calculate at what distance the shell was to explode at the right time. We made one trial shot. Zenith blasts were usually bright and light, but this one turned out to be a dark cloud. After making trial shots I adjusted the data and we made couple of shots on the planes, but they were a little bit more advance, above the infantry. The shell flew off and exploded in the adjusted point. We would not be able to bring down a plane with such a shell, but we just scared off the Germans. They thought that there was no zenith artillery at the crossing and then all of a sudden there were such powerful blasts among the planes. German bombers turned back and flew away.
There was also an interesting case at the forced crossing of Dnepr during attacking the town of Stanislav, Khersonsk oblast [about 1200 km to the south-west Moscow]. When our infantry was crossing Dnepr, German bombers were strenuously bombing the crossing. Our troops were plainly visible and we did not have aircraft guns to bring down German planes. Then the division commander suggested that I should make a fraudulent maneuver. We had shells with remote control explosives in our ammunition sets. These were the shells which could be exploded in any trajectory point of their flight. They were meant for the troops. The shell exploded at the distance of 10m before the trenches, where the infantry was hiding so that the fragments of the shells hit the infantry. So we had to calculate at what distance the shell was to explode at the right time. We made one trial shot. Zenith blasts were usually bright and light, but this one turned out to be a dark cloud. After making trial shots I adjusted the data and we made couple of shots on the planes, but they were a little bit more advance, above the infantry. The shell flew off and exploded in the adjusted point. We would not be able to bring down a plane with such a shell, but we just scared off the Germans. They thought that there was no zenith artillery at the crossing and then all of a sudden there were such powerful blasts among the planes. German bombers turned back and flew away.
,
During WW2
See text in interview
Shelter squads were also under NKVD. Those troops were established by NKVD. They consisted of armed NKVD employees, who were to follow military subdivision. They were supposed to make sure that no deserting would happen and not to let anybody in the rear. They had power to kill the running soldier on spot. Deserters were caught. Sometimes they had to go through martial court. At times they were shot depending on the circumstances. Such shelter squads were made of loyal communists and Komsomol members. They acted very ruthlessly, even too ruthlessly.
Closer to the end of war, two officers, senior lieutenants, who were previously in penalty squad, came to our regiment. They were wounded, therefore restored in rank and sent to us. They were good fighters and our soldiers treated them with respect. One of the officers said that their penalty battalion consisted of 4000 people. They were ordered to break through the river Danube in Budapest. After they succeeded in their task, only 200 survived out of 4000. They were rehabilitated and restored in rights.
,
During WW2
See text in interview
Like in the peaceful times we were under the ‘omniscience eye’ of NKVD. Its subdivisions SMERSH [32] were founded. There was no less than one NKVD representative in each regiment. Usually there were more than one. Those ‘warriors’ had to divulge the spies and diversionists. They did not take part in the battles. They worked with military personnel, picked the stooges who reported on anti-soviet dispositions and talks. They were not respected in the army. Besides, penalty battalions were also under NKVD command. Such battalions consisted of volunteers out of criminals and militaries condemned with the martial court for different misdemeanors. Officers were reduced in ranks and sent to the penalty battalions and soldiers and sergeants were sent to the penalty squads. The soldiers of the penalty battalions fought to death or until they were wounded in the battle. After being discharged from the hospital they were sent to ordinary military units. It was called ‘to wash off the guilt with blood’. I had to come across with those battalions. There were times when penalty squad was taking position on the left flank. Penalty squads were also sent for pre-battle reconnaissance. It meant that they were supposed to depict the attack under insufficient support from artillery in order to determine what kind of German forces were focused on that site. Of course, most of the penalty squad soldiers died. Upon their death, their families were reported that they were exonerated ‘guilt was redeemed by blood’. Fortunately, none from our regiment was in the penalty squad. Closer to the end of war, two officers, senior lieutenants, who were previously in penalty squad, came to our regiment. They were wounded, therefore restored in rank and sent to us. They were good fighters and our soldiers treated them with respect. One of the officers said that their penalty battalion consisted of 4000 people. They were ordered to break through the river Danube in Budapest. After they succeeded in their task, only 200 survived out of 4000. They were rehabilitated and restored in rights.
Shelter squads were also under NKVD. Those troops were established by NKVD. They consisted of armed NKVD employees, who were to follow military subdivision. They were supposed to make sure that no deserting would happen and not to let anybody in the rear. They had power to kill the running soldier on spot. Deserters were caught. Sometimes they had to go through martial court. At times they were shot depending on the circumstances. Such shelter squads were made of loyal communists and Komsomol members. They acted very ruthlessly, even too ruthlessly.
Shelter squads were also under NKVD. Those troops were established by NKVD. They consisted of armed NKVD employees, who were to follow military subdivision. They were supposed to make sure that no deserting would happen and not to let anybody in the rear. They had power to kill the running soldier on spot. Deserters were caught. Sometimes they had to go through martial court. At times they were shot depending on the circumstances. Such shelter squads were made of loyal communists and Komsomol members. They acted very ruthlessly, even too ruthlessly.
,
During WW2
See text in interview