Peri Berki - December 9, 1983
Munich and Budapest
So were there any other incidents that you might recollect about the war that, um...
I remember. Let's not, these are just the war stories that when the Russians are already occupying Budapest I think that they, one, one part of the, of the city was occupied, you know that, when they go from house to house when you see in the paper that ??? unfortunately. This is how I lived through. This is how, I lived for nine months in ??? Munich in, in this army camp and I, and we went very often to Munich. I never recognized where I am. Every corner was the same ruins. The whole city was in ruins. I never knew where I was.
Well, Munich was heavily bombed.
Munich was hea... and also Bremen, Bremenhaven was worse. We didn't know where we were.
Well, of course Budapest must have been terribly...
Well, Budapest not as much as Munich. It was, also it was full of barrack, and my son was very sick, I remember. And then after the Russian came in they started to clean the streets, we had a lot of snow and it was everything frozen on, all over on the yards, on the, on the sidewalks and on the street, and on... Who, who had to clean? The people, the population. They didn't have people to work for, for money or something. And the, it was under Russian rule already and we had to go and clean the street, to chop up the snow. It wasn't bad, my sister and I we were com... competing. I, we were very, we, we took it as sport. Only, just you say, again, that not all the Christians were, were so wonderful. We lived in my sister's apartment, I told you. And uh, day came that we had to clean, there were groups. This and this, ten to twelve and other one from twelve to four or something. And my son was, had dysentery—do you know that word?
Dysentery, yes, yes.
Yeah, and he was very sick, very, very, he couldn't sit, he was so skinny. And we told the super, the, the super, who became a big communist officer. And actually he was the super...
[interruption in interview]
Yeah somebody, yes, and I think it's very interesting. This is very unique.
And, and he, all that he has to go clean the street. And we begged him, we said that he's very sick ??? and order, he had to go down. And see that also, it was...
With dysentery he had to go and clean the street?
After, after the dysentery. But he was so weak, he couldn't sit on a chair. He was so weak and so...
Did he...
And he had to go down to clean. It shows that people are different.
Well, yes, of course.
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