Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Eva Cigler - March 17, 1982

Arrival at Bergen-Belsen

All right, you were um, for how many days did you say on the wagon going to...

To uh, Bergen-Belsen? I think about three days.

What happened when you arrived in Bergen-Belsen?

When we arrived we heard all, you know, first of all the train stopped a couple places.

You were in a train or in a wagon?

I mean in the wagon, but was a big uh, train I don't know how many wagon was in that

Oh you mean it was in a, in a, in a cattle car.

Oh, in a cattle car...

I'm sorry...

sure...

I didn't understand you.

And uh, when we get there. We, we coming down but we heard the airplane was going uh, back and forth and we know we could hear the bomb.

Oh you could.

Yeah. The bombing and this train stopped a couple uh, time and then it's uh, went again. And when we get there we came up from the wagon and we have to uh, uh, march 'bout uh, three or four hours from the wagon to the...

To the camp.

camp. And then uh, we see already what kinda other hell we was coming to. But in Bergen-Belsen compared to the Auschwitz camp--Auschwitz you have to be clean. If they find you a little pimple or a rash, right away you go to the gas chamber because they didn't want to treat you and they didn't want, if you have a...

Mm-hm.

disease or something. But here there was a very bad uh, camp. There wasn't no water too much where you could wash up a little bit. And then when we went in a barrack, you stayed in a barrack. There was nothing to do there.

All day and all night.

All day and all night. Just you went out to Zählappell again they was counting you. And then you sit there, we were sitting there for uh, 'bout a, a month. Don't do nothing. And then again they changed their barracks, we went to the other barracks.


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