Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Miriam Biegun - August 10, 1983

When you got to Berlin, where were you?

There was camp, in the army, from the Unite...from the American side...

And how were you...

And we were there in camps.

In an American camp?

Yeah, and we had food from, the Americans supported us. There was schooling, you know. The Jewish teachers came there. Some Israelis. Some, not too much American, but most Israeli's delegations.

So they were trying to...

Yeah, Israeli's delegation to make Aliyah to Israel, you know, when the mandate and the English were there in, in Israel, they used smuggle over, you know.

This was in 1946.

Yeah, to smuggle us to Israel, but it was very hard to get to Israel.

Now, when you left Berlin what was it like? You were three years in the DP camp?

In Berlin it was not bad because we had food, clothing we got, you know, from the Americans.

And you went to school each day?

Yeah, we had school, and there was a special kitchen just for children, so the kids got better food, you know, and eventually to build the kids up because, I mean, we were skinny. Nothing fit us, so to build us up, they had a special kitchen for the children.

And now, you decided...

So it was pretty good.

You decided to go to Israel? Your, your uncle and your aunt...

Yeah, we were trying to get to Israel. And they couldn't take us because children. Usually they wanted without children to smuggle the border, you know, with the English. It was too hard with children. So lots of people went, you know.

But you waited until after?

We waited. We thought maybe we could come to America. We had uncles and aunties here, but they couldn't take us over.