Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Bert Dan - November 17, 1982

And it was about six o'clock in the morning by the time we got into Łódź. And we took a cab--the carriage was actually a horse and a carriage. And we took that carriage and we had ??? Paul myself, we carried whiskey and cigarettes. Because that was the only thing that we could do anything with, you know. Money was absolutely meaningless at the time, you know. And carried a big huge suitcase, one myself and one he did. And, and uh, we got into this uh, uh, horse and this carriage there and we took these women and we went to their house. And the husbands were home and the husbands didn't know who we are and they were scared at first. And then we told them who we are. Then naturally they took us right in and they were--became very handy to us because naturally they spoke Polish fluently--they were born and raised that. And uh, the guy's name was Hal Rubin, Hal Rubin, I will never forget him. I got pictures downstairs with him that were taken later. And he was uh, these two brother-in-laws, you know, they were--these two women were married to these two guys and they lived together in this apartment. So they became very, very handy to us because we ate them breakfast--we had breakfast at the end of their house. And then we went out in the Jewish community already working in roads. And there was a gentleman by the name of ??? who later became a very famous man--he was a professor here at the Columbia University in New York and he was the head of the Jewish uh, community over there. And he was one hell of a man--a very fine gentleman and he treated us royally--very, very nice to us and he told us he didn't want to get involved in it, naturally. But he told us that that is a, a school and he gave these two guys, you know, the exact address where they are. There are about fifty Hungarian Jewish women. They are locked up by the Russians and there is no way to get 'em out because they don't know what purpose they are keeping them there for--but they are locked in there, and can't get 'em out.