Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Eva Cigler - March 17, 1982

Selektion

Were the men and women separated already?

Yes. They said the men should go this way and we see already the men was moving already a different direction. And they all standing in the other side of the railroad. And when I looked over, I see my father already standing in a line. But he could see us already and wave to us. And all of a sudden that line already start to move and then I didn't see my father anymore. And uh, so then our uh, line start to move and we was moving. And we see the SS was Mengele I'm hundred percent sure was standing there to select which side goes this way and which side go that way. And the three older one uh, me and my sister and the younger sister went in the right side and my mother, with the three uh, children went to the left side. And uh, this--mine older sister uh, said, "When we get there you know, when they said we should go to the right side." My sister was thinking maybe we should took the fourth younger sister with us, because the SS said he could go that way. But he was so skinny and uh, so uh, fragile, we was thinking it's better off if she goes with our mother. So my sister said to the SS uh, she could speak a little Jewish and a little uh, German, if he could go and give this uh, young child to my mother and he said yes. So my older sister went away with the younger one and we standing already on the other side in line and the line start to move and I didn't see my older sister where she is. And finally she came back and I said, "What happened?" She said, "I run to that uh, other side and I find my mother and I said here is uh, the, my sister, she should be with you." So when we get to that uh, the right side we start to move already. So uh, sure enough we move. We see the crematorium, but we didn't know what's uh, that place is. And then we went to take a bath. They strip us all from the uh, clothing.

They told you to undress.

Undress, yeah, we get to that place. Undress and we were staying there in line 'til the line was uh, moving.

You were all standing naked.

Standing naked. And then uh, there was the prisoner who cut our hair off and shave us in the underarm and cut our hair. And we was all naked [laughs] top to bottom. And then they throw us some clothes, the prisoner clothes...[laughs]

Mm-hm.

the blue and uh, green stripes.

Blue and green or grey?

Grey, not green. Grey stripes. And everybody had to put it on and still standing in line 'til the whole uh, hundred or hundred and fifty girls came up from that uh, place where they get shaved off. And after that they said march. And we was marching to the barrack.

Did, did you have any conversations with these women who were shaving your hair?

No, because they, they didn't talk to us. They was glad to see us, 'bout time already the Hungarian Jew was coming to the place because they was there the Czechoslovakian and the Polish one I think uh, three years.

They said that to you.

Yes, so uh, that time we finding it out they not so good themselves. What happened with this people? But later on we didn't blame them because they didn't have no feelings for nobody else, even for themself even.


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