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Emerich Grinbaum - January 8, 2001

Potato peelers.

peeling. And they were not satisfied with them. So they kickedout everybody. I don't know, twenty-thirty, I don't know how many. And theydecided-there was a culture in, matter of fact in Germany, they toleratedyounger better than older. Old you, you mean thirty-five, forty be regardedold in the camp. But we were in the ten-teens. So all teens, all teens practically.

What do you think-what happened to the thirty who were kickedout?

Yeah, they, they put instead of us to go to the, to the BMW.

And what happened to them?

I don't know. I don't know. They just changed-exchanged people.So they went to work, they didn't...

Ah.

Didn't work, didn't a good job for peeling potato, so we-theythought that we are going to peel better. So that was our luck. And we peeledthat potatoes. We were in relatively warm uh, uh, place. No heavy job. Wehad some additional food also. At least potatoes and we have to some, some,some uh, other, some cabbage, we had to cut cabbages, we can grab a pieceof cabbage. So we were relatively uh, until February, we were relatively luckyto be there. So that was that. And we were very much interested what happenedwith our father.

Of course.

And we tried. And meanwhile, every week or every two weeks, asmall group, ten, twenty, thirty people came from Dachau always. Those who,who recuperated from that uh, different groups. And they came. And we triedto ask whether they saw him. Nobody, nobody saw. And [pause] we-the kitchenwas close to the entrance of the camp. So when new group came we always couldsee from, through the window. So we were waiting everyday. Uh, maybe he'sgoing to come. And one day he came. It was the beginning of November. He came,we recognized him and of course they put him in the most, the same job, whichwe were earlier. All the newcomers they were the be...worst. And, and my fatherat that time was forty-seven, which was very old. Uh, we knew thathis age uh, he has several weeks or maybe a month because those who, who werethere, they dying very quickly.

This is carrying cement and things like that.

Yeah all this, yeah. So my father was put immediately and wasa difficult job. We were not in same barrack, but we saw him every evening.We tried...[telephone rings] Oh can I?

[interruption in interview]

So and you know, he was, he, everyday we saw that he's gettingweaker and weaker. We tried to, it was forbidden, we tried to smuggle outsome food, a little bit, some potatoes or something to-and we did. But itwas very dangerous. We could, they could beat up, but we did. But it stillwas not good enough. We were in relatively good health at that time. Youngand we had-and here he remem...he was uh, he remembered that he saw how epilepsyworks. And he consulted the doctor in the group-there were a lot of doctors-andhe told that tomorrow I'm going to fake an epilepsy seizure. And they mighttake me to the Revier at that time, and maybe after the Revier if he is luckythey might not put back in the, the same Kommando, they called it. They wereea...lighter Kommandos which is not that bad. Okay. So we were watching inthe morning and he did. He faked so good the seizure that we, we were scared,we were fright, scared that it is a seizure. You know, of course they tookhim to Revier and unfortunately somebody they picked up whoever was thereto put him in this place. So that was the uh, uh, the struggle for life, youknow. Darwinian, Darwinian-so somebody had to but, so they put him in theRevier for a day and they uh, or two days, something-and then he ne...theynever put him back to that, that job. He had a lighter job.

When he left the Revier.

Yeah, when he left the Revier, after the Revier. So he, that...

Back at Allach though?

Yeah. Everything was in Allach.

So he...but the Revier was in Dachau.

No, Revier was in Allach.

In Allach, I see.

Oh, I am sorry. Every, every camp had a Revier.

Okay.

So it's just next door. The whole, the every-had a Revier. Soat least he got rid of that, that uh, shall I say it in d...detail or not?