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Joseph Gringlas - January 14, 1993

And from that we traveled throughout Nordhausen. We arrived inNordhausen, we looked black. Faces were black. And I said to my brother, "Youknow, this..." [pause] it, it was all bread, so it's so dark, that, that feltterrible that. I couldn't see human being looked like. But still I said, "Youknow Sol, if we went through that we're going to survive." [long pause] Okay,in Nordhausen, the barracks were not like barracks in Blizyn or, or in Birkenau.The barracks were soldier. The bricks built, like buildings. And we had alittle, more like, I don't know they, I don't know how they treat us thattime, I, they would just give us a little bit more like a bed, not a bed,but it looked better than Birkenau, it was a piece of, of wood laying. Andthe feeding was a little better too. I thought maybe they got the, the, theystarting getting a better feeling, I mean the, when they treat us a littlebit better. But no, it was just, at that time, I don't know, maybe they sawthe way we looked or something, they give, they gave us a little bit better,be....And then in, in Nordhausen we didn't know and we, what, what kind ofwork was going to be there. They took us, in tho...those called Dora- Nordhausen.That was the big barr...buildings and barracks, probably built for the soldiersand they used it for us. And they took us in a little train again, travelingto where. The guards to-on the ground, coming in and I...

V-2 rockets?

V-2. That's the mountains, called the Hartz mountains and theywere building the V-1 and V-2, I guess the-Britain-England. We didn't knowwhat's happening. And with the machine with cement floors, putting them inmachines. Actually at that time we didn't know what they doing. But lateron we found out it was V-1. But from that place they, they made the missileto hit uh, London. So I worked there in, in that factory in a...a long time.I, I and it was civilian, civilians, engineers from the German. They were,civilians, they were not eh, like ca...in camps, nothing to do with the camps.They were working with the machinery, putting together. And one...

Did you ever see Arthur Rudolph? Is that a familiar name?

Rudolph Hess?

No, Arthur Rudolph.

Art Rudolph? The one which had to do with the missiles?

Yeah.

No. No, I don't think I. He was in the high up of engineering.I don't think he would be close to us. So you only saw...

He was deported a little while ago.

Yeah, I know.

About five years ago.

Mm-hm. One time I was-a German civilian, he looked around, inthe factory working with us. He took out a pie...he looked around there wasnobody watching him. He took out a bread and he gave it to me. You know thistime I see some feelings. [crys] And then after you, a month working therein that, in the fact...in the, in the underg...those mountains, undergroundeh, I don't know I must have gotten so that I couldn't work anymore. So theytook us in, in a big, those of the barracks there, a building, that i...thosebuilding barrack, not wooden, those bricks barrack. And they put on-I rememberthere was a table on the, a big table, a civilian doctor sitting on, on theother side. And something was glowing, an instrument, I don't know what itwas. And they had stripped it into what, they looked through and see how andI was assigned not to work anymore. That what's happened after a few monthsbeing in, N...Nordhausen.

They gave you x-rays, is that right?

It must have been x-rays. Because th...and they looked through,might be dark like a ??? you know...

Mm-hm.

they can see right away through, it's a machine with. And I wasput away on the side not to go, not to go anymore to-on to work on the, onthe, the mountains for the, building the V-1, V-2.