• Contents
• Map
• Audio

Joseph Gringlas - January 14, 1993

But you were wearing your prisoner's uniform still.

Yes. I don't know, it might have been a civilian. Before I gotchanged, it must have been a civilian. But he, no, it, it was a thing andI had already. And uh, was machtest du? ??? We told him we were, we were lost.Los, los! And yeah, he probably guy-a civilian eh, German. Anyway, he letus go. And I came back to my barrack, took out the egg. Was blood in the eggs,because the goose was sitting on it, you know. The funny thing-I tell youthis is funny, unbelievable. And then the Ger...that, that guy which wentand we organized to get some food. He, he, I don't know, he's a doc...he wasa doctor. He to...he, heated the water, hard boiled egg. He had-his wounds,my brother, was already green. If we would have been like a few days morehe would have...

Gangrene?

Gangrene, yeah. He cleaned around, cleaned around. And then Ieh, cleaned-at least he got that infection in-around, cleaned around wherethat and he had gas, I don't know-I mean those, to put around him, bandage,bandage around his leg. And I went out and I saw the Americans. Coming fromall over, the, the soldiers. Then and my brother staying there about a dayor night with me and we said, oh, we got food organized, we're going to staythere. And then the Americans come in, they ask so where somebody sick? SoI told them my brother's laying, he couldn't walk. So they took him out onstretches and they put on a stretch... stretchers and take him out, to a,to a hospital. And the hospital was in Dora, the hospital, in Nordhausen.And I thought, if I going to stay there watching that place where I had thefood, I don't know where he gonna be-how I gonna find him. So I, when I sawthem putting him on, on like, like this military truck to take him to hospital,I left everything. But I got around so I should be with the patient. Jumpedup on the-on that, on that soldier's truck and I went and they took, I got,Dora my brother. Came in the Dora, in the hospital, to check when they, youknow, treated my brother's leg. And I told them that I was in...injured inthe bombardment, so they took me. The Americans had x-rays or something likeRoentgen, the German was there. They told me that I was very lucky. They sawit coming through next to the heart. That shocked me, when I was bombardedby the Americans. And it's still inside me.

Still inside of you?

Yeah.

They didn't take it, the didn't have to?

The lung. No, they, it said it's not necessary if you take itout. It's still in, in me. But...

A souvenir.

Souvenir, yeah. And they told me that I was one of the lucky.So it's, next, next, went through right next to the heart.

So you're with the American Army now.

Yeah.

And they put you in a hospital?

Yeah, they-my brother was in a hospital in Dora.

Dora.

Yeah, yeah, what, what happened? Now, it's, it's remind myselfwhen you were talking about hospitals. They saw we were, we were just likewalking around like skeletons, you know, we couldn't do too much. So theytook eh, all the sick, they made a tent out of a field, the Americans andthey, they gave us the best medicine. And they, they treat us, the Americanstreat us like brothers would find you. They were the, caring those sick peoplethere. And I, I was in that hospital with my brother too that, it was likestretch...eh, using up those, where you're laying down in the army where theyuse it.

Stretchers?

Stretchers, yeah, laying in there and they came in by planes,all medicine to, to get us on the feet. I think we were in the hospital thereat that time about a couple of weeks, until we got out. And felt better andbetter off. I saw it was already with the Army it was some civilian Americans.And some were Jewish. And they ask me, would you like to have one hear yourstory? I said, I don't want it, I have enough stories, I couldn't-didn't,wouldn't think about it. I want to uh, tell something off the record. I meanI ???

You want me to stop?