Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Bert Dan - November 17, 1982

Mm-hm.

That what their mother tongue. And they were all running away from the Russians, because they were told that they are going to come back and there were trains waiting for them. And we had to go and help them carry their belongings--whatever you wanted to take along. We had to help them in getting it to the train and load the train for them, and that was our job. It was a very good job for us because they gave us food--whatever they had left over they threw it to us or they gave it to us or they thanked us for helping them to board the train and carrying their stuff a little. It was bad for--then after Yom Kippur that was our job. And they--for the day of Yom Kippur--like Kol Nidre and the day of Yom Kippur we were free. We didn't have to go out to work at all. We had a--made a synagogue for our events over there. As a matter of fact there was a--one very religious uh, Jewish man who was also from Transylvania who did find on the way coming back from, from Poland--he found that there were so many Sefer Torahs, you know, thrown out in the streets and, you know, you couldn't carry 'em. There were hundreds and hundreds of them lying there and he picked one up himself, you know, and he carried it around. He threw away his own belongings in order to bring the Torah along. It was very touching, you know. And uh, that was the Torah that we, we used for the services and for Yom Kippur. And that Kol Nidre night will stay with me. It was a very, very touching Kol Nidre. I--my nature, you know, I'm not the type of cry. I don't know why it brought back to me. I can't help it. I'm sorry that...