• Contents
• Map
• Audio

Szymon Binke - June 16, 1997

What was the work like in Landshut?

In Landshut we worked on the, on a airport. They had a, they had an airport, it must have been a military airport. We, we did uh, roads like, you know, poured cement and stuff like that.

And were, were you working for the government?

No, [laugh], I don't know who I worked for.

Was it Operation Todt?

Todt? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Every, every camp we were, the Operation Todt was our uh, they were the uh, the uh, construction people.

And were they wearing uniforms?

Yeah. Yellow uniform.

What was, what were the supervisors like? Did they treat people reasonably well, or did they...

Some of the Todt people weren't bad. They weren't like the SS. Some of 'em were bad, others weren't. Once in a while they'd throw a...

Um, could you tell me again the, who you worked for at Landshut?

In Landshut we worked in the, in the, for a, at, at, at the airport or uh, fixing roads and sidewalks and like cement work. Cold, winter...

And, and this was, this was the organization...

Todt were always our, every, every camp I was in, Todt was the uh, they were the construction supervisors.

And what, what were those supervisors like? Were they like the SS?

No, no, no, no, no. They were, some of 'em were okay. Just made sure you worked, that's all, but they were more human.

And would they occasionally give you something to eat...

Yes, once in a while, yeah. If you caught a good one, yeah, he'd slip you something, a slice of bread or something like that, cigarette butt.

Um, and how long were you at Landshut?

Oh, probably about three months, maybe four months.

And what were the conditions in that camp like?

Tough. It was in the middle of the winter. Uh, the food wasn't good, very, very tight food. We had a bad uh, Lagerführer. Lagerführer is the German, the head man, the head SS man that's in charge of the camp. See, all the Ältester were prisoners, the Führers were all Germans. Uh, he was bad. In fact at one time there was a rumor that the German people in Landshut wanted to take over, just to feed us. They wanted to feed the camp and the SS wouldn't go for it. And at first when we got there they'd come up to the fence and threw some, some food once in a while. But the SS got wind of it and they wouldn't allow 'em to do it.

These were German civilians.

German civilians, yes. Then my father, may he rest in peace, he was on a, on a work detail that were burying the dead. And they used to go out at night, because we had to go, they had to go through the town. They, they, they, they pushed a pushcart with uh, dead bodies and I guess the SS didn't want to see, they didn't want the uh, civilian population to see us, so they used to do it at night. And after a while I guess some of the people found, found out what route the, they took and they'd find uh, pieces of food layin' on, in the street.

You had said your father worked on this Kommando and there was...

And he'd also say Kaddish.

For the dead bodies.

For the dead, yes. Yeah. In fact they, the, the, that was some of the uh, uh, German guards allowed him to say Kaddish. Yeah. They called him "The Rabbi."

So before he would bury them he would say Kaddish?

Yeah.

Were, were you in the same barracks with your father at this time?

Yeah, there yes.

And did this affect him in some way?

Oh, sure. He tell us about it, yeah. Yeah, but this, this Totenkommando didn't go out every day. He had another job. Whenever they had enough bodies to load up a, they'd, they'd uh, go out maybe two, three times a week, you know, at night. But that, that only took two or three hours, so he had to go to work anyway for a, you know, on the different uh, with us.

So would he get extra rations for this?

Nah.

Just did it to do?

Yeah, yeah.

Any, any particular events at Landshut that stand out?

[sigh] It was very cold, very tough winter. The uh, we had the uh, one, one building was a washroom, you know, the pipe with some hoses where you could wash your hands and face. And, and it froze up. We couldn't wash. We used to go out in the, in the snow, deep, deep snow, we used to have snow and wash in snow in the morning. Bad. Conditions were very bad there. But uh, because it was winter. The winter was tough. In the barracks was okay because uh, we had a lot of people in, in the barracks so, you know, body heat. I don't remember if, I can't remember any heating uh, I don't think we had any he...heating units in the...

What were the sleeping conditions like there?

Well uh, uh, you know, on straw and, and, and uh, uh, cots.

Wooden?

Wooden. Yeah, yeah.

Not on the floor like in Kaufering?

No, no, no. There we had already cots, yeah. But not like they, they show it now in, in uh, in Dachau. We didn't have those. We had shelves like. We put some straw on it and...

Blankets?

Yeah. Yeah...

And lice?

...each had a blanket, yeah.

But there were lice.

Yeah. That too. Plenty. More lice than blanket. [laugh] I guess that maybe kept you warm too.

Uh, and from Landshut where?

Uh, Mühldorf. Yeah, that was my last one.

Also by train, or did you walk?

I think by train.

Do you remember that train trip?

It was a short, I, that, I can't remember that. If, if it was by train it was very short.