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Joseph Gringlas - January 14, 1993

When you arrived at Birkenau and the train opened-the dooropened, what do you remember happening then?

We arrived in Birkenau and eh, and the train opened up and wesaw standing right, SS with, with those dogs and it was terrible. At thattr...eh, but a lot of other trains come in there, Birkenau was with women,with children, with a lot of family you know. But from Blizyn we were not,we were just work from Blizyn. So we came there and we opened up maybe-therewas a lot of SS and they were saying eh, to right to the left. What they saythat-you, you did what they told you to do. We didn't know what's, which way'sgoing to be good, which way is going to be bad. But we found it out. ThatI was put on, on the side to stay on for awhile. The other group, sent rightinto the gas chamber.

You went through the selection?

Yeah, this was selection. And another thing I remember, I hada, a can, a metal can and I was so thirsty. I arrived in Birkenau, it wasterrible. I, I'd be-I was, needed dr...to drink, I didn't talk about hunger,but the drink, I was thirsty. And it must be a rain, rain before we came andthere was a ditch, it was like ditch from, you know things where they makingbricks.

Mm-hm.

It was like, it was, the color of the water looked like a brownishcolor. I drink that from that can. I, I was so thirsty. Never forget. Thingsstay-sticks out with you.

Do you remember at the front of the line on the ramp, at theselection, was it Mengele who was in front?

It must have been, I-but I didn't know, who's Mengele. But Isaw SS man.

???

After the war I found out that was, yeah, yeah.

So you were sent to one side or the other.

One side or the other side.

And what happened then?

Ok, I eh, next eh, when we, then they took us to our barrack.Big barrack. And for a lot of people had to be, be in barrack and to lay,you know, to lay on those wooden things. And they, they didn't take us towork, so if you, you know. But so they took us in a quaran...call it quaranti...quarantine...

Mm-hm.

Quarantine?

Mm-hm.

They checked us if anybody. I'll tell you this, this was a, afterwe were there already selected to work. They-checked us if we have any sicknessor what, because they're afraid if any sickness it's going to spread.

How did they do this, some doct...some SS men came into thebarracks.

Yeah and they said, yeah, exactly, doctors came in, the, theGerman doctors. They checked and see if we, we were sick.