Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Eva Cigler - March 17, 1982

Labor Commando

How long did you work in this um, commando, working outside in the forest?

Uh, working outside that's when we finished uh, around middle of August uh, 'til uh, December the 31st we was in Au...we was in Birkenau.

What happened to the other women in your barrack, the ones that didn't go to work. They just remained there?

No, they put them in a different barracks and uh, some of them stayed there and some of them they took some place away from uh, Auschwitz

Mm-hm.

Uh, around Germany.

But they weren't gassed.

No. They wouldn't. They wasn't.

They were sent--so you worked, you were sent to work outside every single day after you were--were you happy to leave the white--did you have to give your uniform up?

Yeah, they took the uniform back and we get the, not so nice, the junky one because we get used to the you know, the nice uh, or us was nice.

You had to give it up and change.

Yeah. And after we change it with the stripe uh, uniform.

Did your Kapo in your barracks that you slept in, did she ever require you to bring back different things from um, the Brezinka for her?

Uh, yeah, we bring back a diamond earring for her. We was thinking we do a, she want a diamond earring so uh, we find uh, one and a diamond ring. And one of the ring we give to the Kapo, another one was uh, under her working. Stubowa, they called it, the girls.

And you gave it to her.

And gave it to them because we figured she gonna give us a extra cup of uh, soup which she uh, did. But I don't think uh, I don't know if she keep it or not. I never receive it back. But she wasn't uh, the Kapo was anxious. I don't know if she was wearing. I didn't see her wear the diamond earring. But uh, she want a, a nice u...underwear or a shoes or something, chocolate we could bring you know uh, back for her or a piece of soap. And, but uh...

Did you ever get caught bringing back those things for her?

Almost. Almost. Because uh, she wanted a, I think a jacket. And we find a nice uh, navy jacket you know, a lumber jacket you call it, Eisenhower jacket or something...

Mm-hm.

but in material not in Eisenhower. Just the style was. And we put it under our dress. It's wasn't heavy. And we was afraid that day when sh...he gonna open again the SS show uh you know if you didn't bring nothing in there. But that day we was lucky. They didn't come to control us so we could bring her uh, that jacket uh, back. But little things she needed because they uh, could find you know, clothes easier than we was.


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