Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Eva Ackermann - December 6, 1982

Punishments in Camp II

And uh, I was put out to the gate for everybody viewing me. Many thousands of people passing by. I never, while they were cutting, while the Jewish barber was cutting my hair the SS came in and I said uh, "Oberscharführer, Ich bin Unschuldig." And he said, "Von den letzen Mal, Mal, Mal. Von den letzen Mal." You know what that is?

Since the last time.

Yeah, "You're a virgin since the last time." I was, I was no way for me to convince, I mean my case was lost. I was uh, without a trial, I was convicted and there was just no uh, no way for me to uh, it, it was very interesting because the truth came out. There was an epidemic of--but uh, I would like to--I stood there and uh, the gates outside for me. The girls uh, next to the uh, next to the gate, they were, we were digging a latrine, next to the gate, inside of the camp. Those girls were working. I was standing there uh, on display and like I said, I never shed a tear. And uh, when all the, all the, uh Häftlings were marching out, the gates were closed. I was to go to these girls because I was part of the crew digging. When I went there they just stood around and one of them said uh, "We believe you," and that's when I started crying they believed it. That's when I started to cry when they said, they said, "We believe you." So what happened was a couple of months later there was an epidemic of some uh, illness of uh, uh, illness of, uh....


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