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They later took us to Cotu Lung and Cotu Mihalea [27 and 29 kilometers north-west of Braila]. Most of our work was concentrated on the banks of the Siret River, around the pillboxes [Editor’s note: pillbox is a military term for a type of bunker]. The ground on which they had been erected was being eroded by the stream and we had to reinforce it. Those pillboxes had been designed to protect us from the Soviets, but they were never used. When the front was broken, the Russians simply went round them. They were equipped with heavy machine guns. Our work consisted mainly of digging, and I can assure you that was hard work. In fact, working with iron and dirt was the most difficult kind of labor. I pity those who had to work in a mine. We were lucky to be used only on the surface, doing that reinforcement work.
We lived in huts dug in the dirt. We had found them there, covered with planks. Rats were abound and hygiene was precarious. Food came in a bucket and it often had maggots in it. We would pick them and eat the food anyway, because we simply had to eat something.
We lived in huts dug in the dirt. We had found them there, covered with planks. Rats were abound and hygiene was precarious. Food came in a bucket and it often had maggots in it. We would pick them and eat the food anyway, because we simply had to eat something.
Period
Location
Romania
Interview
Max Wolf
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