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We set off, and then a jeep appeared...and one more jeep appeared. We were walking towards them, and they stopped. They were American soldiers. They told us to keep walking, because we would reach a small town, and the headquarters would be there, the Americans. We went there, and they took care of us, they gave us accommodation and food packages. We got a lot of delicacies from the Americans. There was everything one could desire. And we got such good accommodation. It was near a church. We could wash, then they gave us clothes, so we could take off these awful things, these rags, and dress up properly. Not all of the things fit us, but as we stayed longer there, we could adjust the clothes we had gotten to fit us.
A German sewer did that for us. She was very kind, and they [the Americans] helped us of course, meaning that we were supplied very well. Due to the war in Germany everything was in short supply. Let's say it wasn't the case with the villagers, because they could produce everything themselves, but people in the towns had a hard time getting food, while we were supplied abundantly. For example, we could give things to this sewer who sewed us things from the stuff given to us by the Americans.
There was canned food in the American packages we got, and what I liked most was the chocolate, biscuits and peanuts, and besides American peanut- butter. I like it a lot, it is very delicious spread on a roll or piece of bread: first you put some butter, then you spread on this peanut-butter. And they gave us very fine jam, too, but it wasn't canned in bottles or boxes, there were at least five kilograms of jam. You could eat as much as you pleased. I don't know what it was made from, but I can't forget how good it was. Although we had so much food, we were eating carefully so as not to eat too much. However, it occurred that a person, for having weakened so much, fell over the food too eagerly - or it happened that they ate poisoned bread, they found in warehouses after liberation - and they died.
Later they transferred us from this town to another. The first one was called Mitterteich, and the second one was Tirschenreuth. [Editor's note: Both places are in Bavaria, 20-25 km from the border with the Czech Republic.] There was a big porcelain factory. There wasn't any trace of war in these places. There wasn't any kind of destruction. When we went to this other place, we were quite many. There was a 'Gasthaus,' a guest-house, where they put us up. [Editor's note: The German word 'Gasthaus' actually means restaurant, inn. However, many of these inns also offer accommodation.]
There were Hungarian refugees too, but they were sent away from there, I don't know where they found a place for them, and we were given their places. These were Christian Hungarians, fascists, they were in trouble, and they had fled for Germany before the war was over, for they were allies, you see. They could come here, because the Germans accepted them. Later they went to America, if they could, or stayed in Germany.
It was a guest-house with several rooms. We were there until September. We were given some aid, and we could buy food. But I remember well that this guest-house had a restaurant on the ground floor, you could eat there if you wanted to do so. But people kept on coming there, who, like us, had certainly escaped, and in the end we were too many. There were even Poles, I don't know where they came from. There were Italians, there were French too, but these were male prisoners, not women. Then little by little they left, they could go home, and we went home as well. We were there until September, when they organized our return home.
A German sewer did that for us. She was very kind, and they [the Americans] helped us of course, meaning that we were supplied very well. Due to the war in Germany everything was in short supply. Let's say it wasn't the case with the villagers, because they could produce everything themselves, but people in the towns had a hard time getting food, while we were supplied abundantly. For example, we could give things to this sewer who sewed us things from the stuff given to us by the Americans.
There was canned food in the American packages we got, and what I liked most was the chocolate, biscuits and peanuts, and besides American peanut- butter. I like it a lot, it is very delicious spread on a roll or piece of bread: first you put some butter, then you spread on this peanut-butter. And they gave us very fine jam, too, but it wasn't canned in bottles or boxes, there were at least five kilograms of jam. You could eat as much as you pleased. I don't know what it was made from, but I can't forget how good it was. Although we had so much food, we were eating carefully so as not to eat too much. However, it occurred that a person, for having weakened so much, fell over the food too eagerly - or it happened that they ate poisoned bread, they found in warehouses after liberation - and they died.
Later they transferred us from this town to another. The first one was called Mitterteich, and the second one was Tirschenreuth. [Editor's note: Both places are in Bavaria, 20-25 km from the border with the Czech Republic.] There was a big porcelain factory. There wasn't any trace of war in these places. There wasn't any kind of destruction. When we went to this other place, we were quite many. There was a 'Gasthaus,' a guest-house, where they put us up. [Editor's note: The German word 'Gasthaus' actually means restaurant, inn. However, many of these inns also offer accommodation.]
There were Hungarian refugees too, but they were sent away from there, I don't know where they found a place for them, and we were given their places. These were Christian Hungarians, fascists, they were in trouble, and they had fled for Germany before the war was over, for they were allies, you see. They could come here, because the Germans accepted them. Later they went to America, if they could, or stayed in Germany.
It was a guest-house with several rooms. We were there until September. We were given some aid, and we could buy food. But I remember well that this guest-house had a restaurant on the ground floor, you could eat there if you wanted to do so. But people kept on coming there, who, like us, had certainly escaped, and in the end we were too many. There were even Poles, I don't know where they came from. There were Italians, there were French too, but these were male prisoners, not women. Then little by little they left, they could go home, and we went home as well. We were there until September, when they organized our return home.
Period
Year
1945
Location
Tirschenreuth
Germany
Interview
Magda Fazekas