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They deported my brother Joska from Marosvasarhely, together with his family. Gyurika, their little son was six years old, when he was taken away. His wife and the child were sent to the gas chamber immediately. Joska, just like us, was left to live. My cousin, Jeno Lobl, who survived as well - his parents were killed, he and his sister Hedike survived - was together with Joska in Auschwitz, he told us after liberation that he was in deep despair, and Joska kept comforting him. The barbed wire fences were electrified, and whoever grabbed it, died. Some people committed suicide there, this cousin of mine wanted to die as well, because he couldn't stand it anymore, and my brother Joska encouraged him not to do so. Then they were transferred, my cousin got to a work camp, like us.
I don't know where Joska was taken; it is likely that the same happened to him as what we saw, that transport, those starving people, who couldn't walk anymore... When they saw people dropping, they shot them, well certainly my poor brother died in a similar way, but when and where, that we never found out. This cousin of mine, Jeno, survived, and came home; now he lives in Canada with his family. They lived in Bucharest before, he has triplets.
Margit and her family have a sad story. They fled from Bucharest to Csernovic, and from there they were fleeing further from the Germans. I don't know where it happened, her husband got down in a railway station to buy some food, and he missed the train. Margit went away on that train alone, and she got to Siberia. The Germans caught her husband, and took him to Auschwitz... She knew nothing about her husband, and her husband didn't know anything about her.
Margit spent six years in Siberia. But one, who is skilled in a profession, always can get on. She was sewing in Siberia too. Once she pricked her finger, it got infected, and she got phlegmon. She was very ill; it was very serious, similar to blood poisoning, it meant forty degrees fever, and she was alone. Luckily there was a kid, a young boy of fifteen or sixteen - that's what she told me later - and he took care of her while she had such a high temperature.
She survived, and she came home. She got home after six years. She came to Brasso, because we had relatives there, and she went to Aunt Lina, to my father's sister. Aunt Lina was the wife of a very rich manufacturer in Brasso. She helped her; Margit could stay with them, when she returned from Russia. Her husband came home too, he was liberated from Auschwitz. Her husband came home earlier than my sister, Margit.
Margit had poliomyelitis as a child, and as a consequence she had an ill leg. She was limping, she was operated on her leg I don't know how many times. She was disabled. And her husband thought that certainly she didn't survive those six years in Siberia, for he didn't get any news of her. There was a woman whose husband didn't return either. In those times people who lost their partner tried to find a new one. And when my sister Margit came back, he already had this partner. Later the woman's husband came back as well, and so the woman went back to her husband. My sister's husband went back to her, Margit took him back, what else was she supposed to do?
I don't know where Joska was taken; it is likely that the same happened to him as what we saw, that transport, those starving people, who couldn't walk anymore... When they saw people dropping, they shot them, well certainly my poor brother died in a similar way, but when and where, that we never found out. This cousin of mine, Jeno, survived, and came home; now he lives in Canada with his family. They lived in Bucharest before, he has triplets.
Margit and her family have a sad story. They fled from Bucharest to Csernovic, and from there they were fleeing further from the Germans. I don't know where it happened, her husband got down in a railway station to buy some food, and he missed the train. Margit went away on that train alone, and she got to Siberia. The Germans caught her husband, and took him to Auschwitz... She knew nothing about her husband, and her husband didn't know anything about her.
Margit spent six years in Siberia. But one, who is skilled in a profession, always can get on. She was sewing in Siberia too. Once she pricked her finger, it got infected, and she got phlegmon. She was very ill; it was very serious, similar to blood poisoning, it meant forty degrees fever, and she was alone. Luckily there was a kid, a young boy of fifteen or sixteen - that's what she told me later - and he took care of her while she had such a high temperature.
She survived, and she came home. She got home after six years. She came to Brasso, because we had relatives there, and she went to Aunt Lina, to my father's sister. Aunt Lina was the wife of a very rich manufacturer in Brasso. She helped her; Margit could stay with them, when she returned from Russia. Her husband came home too, he was liberated from Auschwitz. Her husband came home earlier than my sister, Margit.
Margit had poliomyelitis as a child, and as a consequence she had an ill leg. She was limping, she was operated on her leg I don't know how many times. She was disabled. And her husband thought that certainly she didn't survive those six years in Siberia, for he didn't get any news of her. There was a woman whose husband didn't return either. In those times people who lost their partner tried to find a new one. And when my sister Margit came back, he already had this partner. Later the woman's husband came back as well, and so the woman went back to her husband. My sister's husband went back to her, Margit took him back, what else was she supposed to do?
Period
Year
1941
Location
Romania
Interview
Magda Fazekas
Tag(s)