Tag #154228 - Interview #94325 (Stepan Neuman)

The Soviet troops, the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Front, stopped before the Carpathians. The troops that were supposed to enter Subcarpathia from the other side, stopped in the Romanian town of Beleti on the other side of the Carpathians. These Soviet troops were late to come here. We didn’t know why they couldn’t cross the Carpathians. There was a strong defense line around the Carpathians made by Jewish work battalions which worked there since 1942. All men capable to work were mobilized to work battalions.

I saw my family for the last time in February 1944. There was an announcement on the town hall that all young men born in1922 and1923 were to make their appearance in the recruitment commission. I was subject to recruitment.

I received a military identity card with the big letters ‘ZS’ stamped on its cover sheet, the first letters of the Hungarian word ‘Zsido,’ meaning Jewish. I asked what this meant and they explained that it stood for a Jew, and according to the law of 1939 [actually 1941] Jews were only recruited to work battalions to work at the front line or other locations. They gave us a list of what to take with us. Tailor Bloch, my father’s friend, made me a rucksack and bag for bread. We were not allowed to take personal belongings with us.