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They led me off to a labor camp in the town of Esztergom. With shorter stops in camps in Erdelyi, I ended up in the town of Csikszereda. The camp was up on Hargita Hill. Csikszereda was the highest camp of them all. We walked 13 kilometers to work, and had to work for 8 hours.
While we were with the camp's army commanders, it was relatively normal, and we had food to eat. There weren't even any beatings, just once in a while someone got a slap or whacked with a cane. One day after assembly they assigned us to some camp where we were preparing defenses, bunkers against the Russians for the Hungarian army.
That was something awful. The first day, the commander picked me out for some reason, came over to me, there was something that he didn't like about me, and so as we were standing there in line, he hit me with a whip right across the eyes.
I couldn't see for a week. He was a second lieutenant, in civilian life a teacher, even. He wanted to introduce himself, which he also succeeded in doing. I don't remember his name anymore, but I searched for him for a long time. Maybe he died when the Russian army arrived.
While we were with the camp's army commanders, it was relatively normal, and we had food to eat. There weren't even any beatings, just once in a while someone got a slap or whacked with a cane. One day after assembly they assigned us to some camp where we were preparing defenses, bunkers against the Russians for the Hungarian army.
That was something awful. The first day, the commander picked me out for some reason, came over to me, there was something that he didn't like about me, and so as we were standing there in line, he hit me with a whip right across the eyes.
I couldn't see for a week. He was a second lieutenant, in civilian life a teacher, even. He wanted to introduce himself, which he also succeeded in doing. I don't remember his name anymore, but I searched for him for a long time. Maybe he died when the Russian army arrived.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Singer Alexander