Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Peri Berki - December 9, 1983

Obtaining False Papers 2

This was communist now.

Yeah, and they said you can get fifty acres wherever you want to. But naturally he didn't look. Then it happened, I was just writing not very long time, a few days ago, that my sister was uh, going, walk...walking on the street and all of a, somebody stopped her, and she asked, do you want to go out to leave the country? And nothing bond her to be there, she lost her husband, and my sister was in America. So she said... So they recommended her to a group who is helping people. That, we didn't know... Did you read The Exodus?

Yes.

I read The Exodus here in America and I'm still have goose bumps when I think of it. When I read The Exodus, I realize that this is the way how we were uh, she had to leave the country, and we didn't realize it.

It was a Jewish organization?

There were two Jewish people and we, two Jewish men, and they said that we will meet in an apartment, but in secret, nobody should know it. So we went to the apartment and these people came from Israel to help the refugees to leave for Israel. And we, I, we didn't know. We knew that these were two people who wanted to help us to get out from the country. And here we had to pay money, but not too much in dollars. I don't remember. It's really nothing.

But they wanted, they were going to help you to go to Israel.

Israel, but not for money, but they needed money.

Yes.

So. And then they got us papers, false papers that we want to go to Israel.

Why false papers? I mean, I don't understand, you mean false papers saying... How false? How do you...

Papers that we were in concentration camp.


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