Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Eva Cigler - March 17, 1982

Escape Attempts II

Do you remember any other escapes? There were people who worked sorting clothing, they were able to give food and clothing were able to give food to the prisoners so that they could escape.

One thing we did, we didn't realize what we was doing. There was a Kapo and, and uh, she said "You're going to get some, uh..." But this was after, when we finished uh, Brezinka, working. And we was outside. No, we was in Brezinka but we was uh, sleeping in the daytime and she said she need two girls who could take that, where we, uh...

Valaise?

Valaise. And there you go in that barrack, end of the barrack. And end of the barrack, sure enough, was the wiring you know, the electric wiring. And he said, "You're going to see there a guy, a Polish uh, Jewish guy, a poor one." She described how the guy gonna look.

Mm-hm.

And he digged already a hole under that wire and you just slide it in there and give it to him that uh, briefcase.

You did that.

Yeah, me and my sister. And when we went back, we didn't realize we could get caught and right away they uh, could uh, kill us. When we came back we ask her what was in there. And she said there was six gold bars in that valaise. And that guy was working with the underground and they going to pay the underground to help somebody escape from the camp. I don't know if uh, it happened or not or they helped underground or where that uh, gold bar was going. But uh, after we uh, when we find out what we was doing, next time we didn't uh, going to volunteer. We're not going to take it because we was afraid we're going to get uh, caught.

What would have happened if you had gotten caught?

[laughs] Oh right away they shoot us. If they don't shoot us right away they took us to the gas chamber to get killed because that one... Now I'm thinking what we was doing. That time we didn't think because the uh, the Kapo said you do this and we was afraid not to say uh, no to her if they pick us uh, me and my sister to take that...


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