Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Eva Boros - February 11, 1983

Rumors of Nazo Persecution in Poland

The rumors. It, it was more than rumors, they were facts. Uh, what goes on with Polish Jews. Meanwhile, Polish Jews started also to sift through the borders to Czechoslovakia they found that this is--to, to Hungary and to Czechoslovakia uh, since Hungary was not yet taken by uh, Hitler, they were still independent. But they de...they declared that they are willing to be in the war with Hitler, which means that they did not have to be uh, policed by the Hitler, actually the, the Nazi regime. So they were independent and that's why the Jews had uh, more rights still there until '44. Uh, so in--it was all this time most of our relatives were gone from Bratislava, including all and all those that didn't live in Bratislava too. And then in uh, Czechoslovakia decided in '42 or '43 to have also uh, forced labor camps inside Czechoslovakia that they sent most of those Jews that they found still uh, for use to, to work. And there were camps for families. So part of my family of family members were there, but not my immediate family. So in '44 uh, February uh, the rumors started to come that things are not so good for the uh, I mean, I, I think in, in '44, the beginning of '44 Hitler had to start re...uh, returning--how do you say it?

Retreat.

Retreat. And I think at this point they started to be real vicious. Vicious, I mean, how more vicious could it be? But they just wanted to clear up everything. Uh, including of course what they needed most was the money and their gold. That these Jews still owed somehow. Uh, in '43, yeah '44 February, my father decided to send me and my brother uh, to Hungary, because the border of Hungary because uh, he felt that it's very unsafe to stay there.


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