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I cannot explain why my friend and I decided to climb over the fence to the old Jewish cemetery at night. My mother didn’t know about it. From the cemetery we went to somebody’s yard and from that yard we escaped to the forest where we stayed. Then my friend left me. His parents’ acquaintances lived in a neighboring village. He wanted me to go with him, but I was afraid since there were fascists in villages as well. I never saw him again. I don’t know what happened to him.
I was hiding in the Lower Tatry. I lived in a shepherd’s abandoned hut, in a ‘kolyba’ made of branches. There was a stove inside. These huts were usually made near a stream or spring to have potable water.
Every now and then woodcutters came to the hut. They were aware of my whereabouts, but I still hid in the woods from them. When I returned to the ‘kolyba’ I found bread, boiled potatoes and milk. They were nice people. They didn’t have much food, but they shared with me whatever little they had. They didn’t give me out to the Germans either.
In summer and fall I ate berries and eatable roots. There were lots of mushrooms, but I was afraid of making a fire in the stove to cook them for safety reasons. I didn’t have matches either. It was cold in winter. I picked pine branches to sleep on them. Anyway, I managed there until the winter of 1943-44 and never caught a cold.
I was hiding in the Lower Tatry. I lived in a shepherd’s abandoned hut, in a ‘kolyba’ made of branches. There was a stove inside. These huts were usually made near a stream or spring to have potable water.
Every now and then woodcutters came to the hut. They were aware of my whereabouts, but I still hid in the woods from them. When I returned to the ‘kolyba’ I found bread, boiled potatoes and milk. They were nice people. They didn’t have much food, but they shared with me whatever little they had. They didn’t give me out to the Germans either.
In summer and fall I ate berries and eatable roots. There were lots of mushrooms, but I was afraid of making a fire in the stove to cook them for safety reasons. I didn’t have matches either. It was cold in winter. I picked pine branches to sleep on them. Anyway, I managed there until the winter of 1943-44 and never caught a cold.
Period
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Kurt Sadlik