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Joseph Gringlas - January 14, 1993

What kind of work did you do after that at uh, was there,was there other work...

Ok, in Buna, yeah,

you said there was...

excuse me, in Buna when I, they assigned me just long beforeI got that Kapo that I told you, I had to sign up to unload from trains. Theyput in the sewer, big cement, cement around, you know, the cement for to putin the ground for sewers. That, that was a sign up. And it was-I was, youknow, a small and, and young and this was big one like this room. And we unloaded,we had to roll it down, you know, not to break, otherwise you break it you'dbe killed. So we, I don't know it was a few, when we figured out how to putpiece of wood on, little by little get it down. But this was heavy.

And did they feed-did they give you extra rations for thatkind of work?

No, same rations.

Same rations for everybody.

Yeah.

When you-at night in the barracks, what did you think aboutat night?

At night in bar...you were thinking about if we could not wakeup would be the best thing.

If you had died.

If you died it would be just natural death. Because you're notgonna, the power we saw in the German power, nobody would believe that anybodygonna come out of it. This is the end of it. So what are you going to live,another few, another few months? We wished that we'd go to lay down on that,that wo...the barrack on the wood, shouldn't get up.

Were there suicides?

Eh, no, I don't know, at-unless, unless.

Not anybody throw themselves on the wires?

Yes, in Au...in Birkenau, going back to Birkenau, I've seen peoplethrowing themself to, as soon you got to the electrical wiring in the fenceyou ex...eh, electrocuted, instant. Oh if, if they saw you going to they wouldkill you before you get electrocuted, from the guards.

Did you ever think in, in your, on your boards at night, aboutyour family, about your home?

Oh yeah, all the, never got out of my mind, always think of myfamily.

Did you think they were alive? Any hope that they were alive?Just your brother?

Yeah and my brother was-as I say, I remember I met him in Bunathat.

What kind of a reunion was that?

Oh, you know something about-he had-he was a tailor already.He was older than me, he was a tailor and he and he worked already for theKapos, for the German Kapos-I mean the German Kapos-when Kapos-with the uniformstoo.