Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Larry Brenner - December 13, 1981

And I remember one instance it was a Sunday afternoon. We were... Our quarters was in a civilian area which wasn't indu... not an industrial area. It was a private homes mostly and it was a big school where we were quartered there. All of a sudden, one afternoon the bombing starts. And when, when the bombing started we went to the cellar, they had... the school had a big cellar which, you know, we thought it will, if it will, if it doesn't hit right on top of us we are safe. But we are, and all of a sudden, we hear, we hear the whole building shaking, first thought we got a direct hit, but we didn't. But it was, the lights went out and, and the whole building was trembling. And as we come out immediately and go in action, that was our duty. And about four blocks away it was a direct hit. Now there was about... We find out the story, it was about a hundred and thirty-nine American citizens, which the Hungarian Ar... the Hungarian government concentrated because they, I think, declared war with America too, so they were concentrated in that area, in that particular home. It was a nice villa, so it's a villa And they were, they weren't concentrated per se that day, they were just knowing where they were. But they were treated well, I understand, they, they have good foods. They, they had uh, limited liberty. Now as I understand, when the American came to one, there was a German airplane went up there and made a direct hit. It's America saying the American hit 'em because there was no reason at all. There was a one isolated home. There wasn't an indu... As I remember, it was in a, a private uh, place where there wasn't any industry at all. There wasn't no, no ground for bombing that area, and as I say, that was the only home, which was hit in that area. So, the German wanted to make a propaganda of that the Americans kill their own people. But as we found out later, that this was a German uh, aircraft, which went up there and bombed that. And no, that was a horrible experience for me because that was... We, we took bodies which was black like coal and it was shaking, the whole body was shaking like uh, what's ??? Like jelly. It, it kept such a bad impression from me, I was shaking because we were taking these people out and try to get them to the hospital, we knew they going to die. And if they don't die, that's uh, they won't live a normal life. And uh, it just, a hundred thirty-nine people there and fifty percent were killed, I would say, and fifty percent were, tried to save them, but none of them, I don't think, may have a normal life. Now and this was going on, now this is '44 in, I think it was '44 May. I, I was called in '44, fifteenth and April the fifteenth to Jászberény and then we came back. And all summer we were in Budapest and we had this type of life. And things got bad for the German Army and politically, I think, they tried... In the meantime, they deported all Hungarian Jews from all, from all over the country. And in Budapest also part of them they, they, they deported them.