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Back then you didn't know who you could trust. For example, before the harsh anti-Jewish laws began, my father liked to fish. He used to go fishing with his friends, and once he ran into some man who worked at the SS headquarters in Piestany. His name was Jan Isachenko. After the war he turned out to be a Russian agent. His real name was Alexander Alexandrovich Isachenko. He became the head of the Russian language department in Bratislava. My father already knew that he was an agent in 1941, when they moved us out of the top floor of our house into the rear part. Back then they also stole our piano. Ten soldiers were carrying it down the stairs. One officer had come with him, which was him. So he'd actually come to introduce himself. He said to my father in German, you're Mr. Urban? We'll be seeing a lot of each other yet. He was friendly to us. He hinted that if we wanted to play the piano, we can come to his place. He was living at the Royal Hotel. Later this hotel was renamed to Slovan. After the war we could've taken the piano back, but who would have wrestled with it?
During the war, my father became the head of the Jewish religious community in Piestany. His deputies were Mr. Faber and Alexander Spronc. Shortly upon that they put him in jail. He was an irritant – he was very enterprising and that got in a lot of people's way. They took him to a jail in Bratislava. From there they helped him escape. It was apparently organized by my uncle, Ernest Lichtenstein. The jail was across from a brewery. The escape was perfectly prepared and timed. Here's what happened: there was a railway track next door. His escape was coordinated with the arrival of the train. It made noise, and thus the guards didn't hear anything. By the jail the train slowed down so that my father could jump on. They took him to Rac, where he jumped onto another train, which was heading in the direction of Prague. Past the tunnel in Lamac he jumped off, and there some railway worker was waiting for him. Then they hid him for some time. In time they arranged a Tiso exception [10] for him, and so he was able to return home. He got the exception in 1942.
During the war, my father became the head of the Jewish religious community in Piestany. His deputies were Mr. Faber and Alexander Spronc. Shortly upon that they put him in jail. He was an irritant – he was very enterprising and that got in a lot of people's way. They took him to a jail in Bratislava. From there they helped him escape. It was apparently organized by my uncle, Ernest Lichtenstein. The jail was across from a brewery. The escape was perfectly prepared and timed. Here's what happened: there was a railway track next door. His escape was coordinated with the arrival of the train. It made noise, and thus the guards didn't hear anything. By the jail the train slowed down so that my father could jump on. They took him to Rac, where he jumped onto another train, which was heading in the direction of Prague. Past the tunnel in Lamac he jumped off, and there some railway worker was waiting for him. Then they hid him for some time. In time they arranged a Tiso exception [10] for him, and so he was able to return home. He got the exception in 1942.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Ladislav Urban