Eva Cigler - March 17, 1982
Barracks
Can you describe the barracks where you lived in Auschwitz--the first barracks?
Uh, the first barracks uh, was uh, like uh, how should I describe it. There was one, like a army barracks. But army barracks at least have uh, some uh, beds. But this was uh, you know, like a, a, a bottom and then the middle and then the higher one,
Mm-hm.
it's three. So all of them slept uh, six girls.
Each level slept.
Yeah, each level yeah, it was three levels. And then you stayed there uh, because they didn't took us to work yet. So we stayed the whole day in the barracks and the morning when it was Zählappell, they want to count. I don't know what they was counting, you couldn't uh, get away from there I don't think so. And uh, then was uh, in daytime counting, all the time seems like uh, three times or four times they uh, blow their whistle and everybody have to go out and always counting. So the barrack uh, in the barrack uh, how many of us, about a hundred.
A hundred women in one barrack.
Yeah.
And you stood outside in line and they counted you.
Right. Five in a row--we have to make a row, five gir...
And then you went back inside the barracks.
Yeah, right away after they counted you stay in the barracks. Then you uh, you couldn't even think what's uh, coming. You don't even care what's going to come. We know something uh, bad going to come, but uh, we just stayed there like uh, how should I tell you, like uh, like crazy ones. We wasn't crazy, but they think uh, you know.
There was fighting?
Uh, it wasn't, uh...
No.
no.
Were any of the people ill?
There were some people ill. But who said that you're ill and they took them away, you never see them again.
Oh.
Because we know already what happened to them.
Um, did any other people get severely beaten at that time?
No, not that I...
No?
No. Not ???
Then what happened to you? You were six weeks in that—which--what was the name of the barrack again?
Uh, A.
A.
A. Uh, six weeks then came in afternoon uh, they again blow the whistle, have to go out and uh, we're standing in line so they said that Kapo has pro...uh, some protec...not protection, how you call it, some uh, higher, uh...
Some authority?
places yeah, when they could uh, could take her block a couple girl, a special places to work. So uh, we didn't know what the special, special place is going to be. So they came and they counted fifty of us or thirty of us, I don't remember. And they says this uh, people should stay and the rest of them have to go back to the barrack. So we was thinking uh, where--what was the special occasion. And then we uh, see we have to march from the main uh, gate out. So we was thinking now that's the end of us. But they took us that time to tattoo our uh, hand. And the next day we went out to work and then we see where we was working near to the crematorium. Uh, so that's was the special uh, privileges for that Kapo. Uh...
She picked the number of people.
She, yeah...
In charge...
picked the number of people.
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