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We were taken straight to the station – it was getting light. Later that same day, in the evening, my mother-in-law, with father-in-law, Giza and Irena in tow, all joined us at the station. When mother-in-law had found out in the morning that we were being deported, she had set up a great lament, apparently – my husband was her favorite son, the youngest. And she would never have forgiven herself that she’d let him be taken away and not gone after him herself. She was an incredibly loving mother.
Remarkable. She wanted to go with her son, so what was Giza (who lived with her) to do? And so in that way we all ended up in the goods wagon. And not just us – two other families besides. I remember there was a couple called the Zubrewiczes – I don’t know where they were from, but that lady cried all the time, because she’d already been deported once and so she knew what awaited her.
We were traveling for a terribly long time. About 3 weeks. They would stop for a moment, sometimes in the day, sometimes at night, so that people could jump out to relieve themselves. During the journey we were treated very well, I must say, only we weren’t allowed to get out for long. I got out once to relieve myself under the wagon, and it was ‘Davay nazad!’ [Russ.: Get back in!] with a machine gun pointed at me. It was a good job I had a child, because we had a potty, so at least we could do a pee and pour it out of the window.
They’d give us some soup once in a while. As it happened, in Lwow at the station it had turned out that they were putting these neighbors of ours from back in Kalwaria on the same train. They were young people, and they realized what was going on, so they jumped off and bought bread. So on the way we ate that bread, as long as it lasted.
We were taken to this port on the Volga, this small town. I don’t remember the name. From there we sailed all night by ship to Koz’modem’yansk [approx. 150 km. from Kazan]; that was a very nice port on the Volga, and there was a railroad station there. That was in the Mariy El Autonomous Soviet Republic [in December 1941 there was a Polish population of 4,000 there]. Apparently 500 people arrived with us on that train. Later that same day we were taken 35 km into the forest.
Mr. Zubrewicz already had a certain amount of experience, so as soon as we stopped, as soon as we were allowed to get out, he and my husband ran off to find us somewhere to live. They managed to hook this cottage. I remember we arrived there in the early morning, and the previous night they had expelled some Russians from there for being against the government or something… I don’t know exactly what for. So we all piled into that cottage: the Zubrewicz family – he had 2 daughters, a son and his daughter-in-law, and his wife – some other couple, and then there were quite a few of us too. So we had one room, the Zubrewiczes had the other room, and in the kitchen – I’ve forgotten what they were called, that couple, quiet people. Jews.
Remarkable. She wanted to go with her son, so what was Giza (who lived with her) to do? And so in that way we all ended up in the goods wagon. And not just us – two other families besides. I remember there was a couple called the Zubrewiczes – I don’t know where they were from, but that lady cried all the time, because she’d already been deported once and so she knew what awaited her.
We were traveling for a terribly long time. About 3 weeks. They would stop for a moment, sometimes in the day, sometimes at night, so that people could jump out to relieve themselves. During the journey we were treated very well, I must say, only we weren’t allowed to get out for long. I got out once to relieve myself under the wagon, and it was ‘Davay nazad!’ [Russ.: Get back in!] with a machine gun pointed at me. It was a good job I had a child, because we had a potty, so at least we could do a pee and pour it out of the window.
They’d give us some soup once in a while. As it happened, in Lwow at the station it had turned out that they were putting these neighbors of ours from back in Kalwaria on the same train. They were young people, and they realized what was going on, so they jumped off and bought bread. So on the way we ate that bread, as long as it lasted.
We were taken to this port on the Volga, this small town. I don’t remember the name. From there we sailed all night by ship to Koz’modem’yansk [approx. 150 km. from Kazan]; that was a very nice port on the Volga, and there was a railroad station there. That was in the Mariy El Autonomous Soviet Republic [in December 1941 there was a Polish population of 4,000 there]. Apparently 500 people arrived with us on that train. Later that same day we were taken 35 km into the forest.
Mr. Zubrewicz already had a certain amount of experience, so as soon as we stopped, as soon as we were allowed to get out, he and my husband ran off to find us somewhere to live. They managed to hook this cottage. I remember we arrived there in the early morning, and the previous night they had expelled some Russians from there for being against the government or something… I don’t know exactly what for. So we all piled into that cottage: the Zubrewicz family – he had 2 daughters, a son and his daughter-in-law, and his wife – some other couple, and then there were quite a few of us too. So we had one room, the Zubrewiczes had the other room, and in the kitchen – I’ve forgotten what they were called, that couple, quiet people. Jews.
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Interview
Emilia Leibel
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