Henry Dorfman - August 11 & 25, 1989
The Russian Advance
Okay.
They were, they didn't want to move no place. They were afraid to go anyplace. And when the Russians start coming in, I mean, there was a tremendous fight in my area near, near the Vistula. So me and my father we took off, we, we put on, you know, we had. We looked like Poles anyway. Like when you took, I took a cow in my hand, my father took a cow. We went with our goyim together because they were evacuating us, you understand. And we went with the Germans back. In eh, this was in the afternoon--at night, they were shelling tremendous reason we were hiding, we could see the Germans were already starting to escape. But a lot of goyim knew us, recognized us. Not as much me, but my, but my father. I remember father used this in ???. Two of them, the girl, the girl and the mother went with us and one of the guys. And both, two sets of brothers did not want to go. They went into the bunker. Bu...when--because we had to--the Germans were sitting there and they had--that's what the goyim told us later, we come back a year later, I mean a week later and we buried 'em. That they were looking around over there. A pig jumped out, they were hidden in a, in the bunker, but by the bunker there was there like a potato case, you understand. So they figured they didn't know how long they're going to be there, so at least they were by the potatoes, you understand. So they could eat even raw potatoes, because they definitely didn't have no other food. And they were there probably about a week or ten days. Somehow the Germans they heard sneezing or whatever because they were laying there. And they caught 'em. They didn't kill 'em even as Jews. They killed 'em as spies. ??? who knows what. We buried 'em. They didn't make it. Stinking by a week we found 'em. When the Russians came in we went back to see where they are and we found 'em. They didn't want to go with us, they say, "There's no way. It's dangerous because the goyim had guns, you know, they're gonna..." You had to take to make up your mind to take those chances. I didn't want to go either. I wanted to stay with them. Dad says, "No, come on, remember." He says, "I was in, in World War I and here you have to go back with the enemy and maybe the other, the others will overrun." And that's exactly what happened. Because if you're, if you're going to stay there, there's not a soul. You're going to stick your head out, 'cause all the army was there, you know.
Your father was a soldier in the First World War?
Yes.
For the Austro-Hungarian Army?
No, no. He was in the Polish Army, 1921.
Oh, after the First World War.
Yeah, you know, when Poland, when Poland was created. '20, '21.
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