Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Eva Cigler - March 17, 1982

They couldn't stand the smell.

smell because it was smelling too... So one of them uh, already the body was all, I don't know how long was standing there, you, it's was--smelled you know,

Mm-hm.

getting apart. So one of them get hold of the hand, one of them hold of the head because the body wouldn't hold uh, together.

Oh it was decomposing.

De...decomposing. Just the top of it uh, was a fresh one, then they could put 'em to...you know, hold them and throw them in the gutter So there was two big gutter, I think, in one grave where it could be a thousand dead in that grave. And they dig, I think, two or three uh, that kind a grave in Bergen-Belsen. So finally when the uh, the English soldier came and they said who could walk go in a truck and we're going to take you uh, cleaner place. So sure enough uh, finally we could that much, we could go in a place and the sick one they took 'em to the hospital, who was very sick, who couldn't move or uh, already halfway dead already.

Mm-hm.

I don't think even some of them reached the hospital because they was very bad condition. Then we went to Bergen-Belsen and then we sure enough get a clean bed. Uh, I mean a shower and there was already uh, clean facilities, toilets and everything and uh, beds. And uh, they give us uh, food. But they didn't give us too much food. We said, "My God, why? We 'posed to eat we're so hungry." But we didn't know they was watching us we shouldn't have too much food because too much food could uh, inside...

Too soon.

it's going to system going to kill us right away.

Right.

And when we're going to go once they give us and we ate it already and then we went again in a line and they recognize. I don't know how [laughs] why they could recognize us, and they right away said, "You can't have anymore and we start to scream, you worser than the Germans," and this and that. Because now we liberated we have to uh, eat more than before we was there.

Mm-hm.

But after that they came and they said listen, "We would like to give you but uh, you couldn't handle it and if you want to stay alive you listen to us. So some of them uh, listen and didn't uh, eat just that much what they was giving. And some of them went and uh, organize it, steal it and they uh, all get uh, they couldn't take the food.