Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Olga Adler - July 26, 1982

Liberation 2

You couldn't eat, you couldn't... There was nothing, as I tell you, as I say that the people were carving the frozen horses, which was very good because they were frozen.

Oh.

But already March came and started thawing a little bit and the stench and the, the terrible thing. I don't know how come that... And, and, and uh, uh, lice. When I got home after ten days of cattle car and I got off a few miles before my hometown in a peasant's house and I washed my face and I washed myself a little bit that when I get into my city I should look like a human being. And I met the first two young men on the main street and I ask if Ernie is home, my husband is home. He said, yes and he's home and he lives in this and this house. And I went into that house and my husband didn't feel good that time. He had, he had on his silk pajamas and a white bed and a house with, with uh, oriental rugs. This, I can't, I can't tell you that shock after coming home from all this and to see a room where there was three walls and windows and white bedding and pajamas and I might... Suit was moving from the lights. So, we took my, my suit right away and we burned it. And a few days later they had a market what they took away from the Jews they had open markets, they were selling it. You know, they didn't want to sell it to the Jews, very few Jews came back, but they were selling. And I went back and I saw a pure silk pleated skirt with a blouse which was mine and I bought it. And I bought it back and I wore it. And, and then I was home for about a week and my husband said that we are, we have to wait for a week until we get married because take out the license. We had to take out the license and I was given food and I had a clean white bed. Nothing ever, no touching, nothing, because my husband said we'll wait for the wedding. And we waited for the wedding, which was just a week. And we uh, I was all set, I went to the beauty shop... I want you to know they deliced me. And I had, his sister had a suit, one of the Gentile friends gave back a suit and I bought the suit and we didn't have a rabbi. He came, a shochet came. Right before the wedding I had a ??? made in the room. And he said, "Were you at the mikva?" I said, "Mikva? No." No wedding. We have to find a religious woman in the city and they are going to... We had a beautiful mikva in Budapest, I want you to know a beautiful swimming pool with steps, white steps going on into the swimming pool and beautiful separate bathrooms all around it, modern, beautiful heated. They heated the whole mikva. They found a lady, the lady is here today. She took me to the mikva, she put my head under the water three times and I came down like a wet chicken and I had to go to the beauty shop again and they made my hair and they made a wedding. And that's how it was. So, I am sure that there were lot and lot of other incidents, which I don't know remember back...

Yeah.

or I, right now I don't remember back. But in, all, all together...


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