Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Luba Elbaum - January 20, 1982

Now what happened after '42--'41--'42? What, what happened after that?

So we went around in the camps, and then we were in Budzyn. And then when the German came closer and closer, they tooked us out to Płaszów. Płaszów Krakow. They make a selection. We were working here, we were working, working, working. Sometimes we'll say, you know, how you call we die out, no food. And who could survive to survive, who could survive. So it was already '43. He tooked us from one camp to the other one. We were working and then when the German uh, the Russian came closer they took us from this camp to Płaszów, Płaszów Krakow. And over there we were working, then took out Majdanek and Budzyn. Everybody went to Płaszów Krakow. Over there we were living in Krakow, I don't know how you call it. In Płaszów ??? the people dead over there in the cemetery. Were living over there in a ce...over there were twenty thousand women in Płaszów Krakow. Also go to work. That kind of work they having for the women, they having for the women--there women what they were there. They having shops. They were sewing. The men were working outside, making just holes.

Holes.

Holes digging. They were digging holes for them to help out with the war. Like here they make mines, how you call?

Mines.

For the digging out. And the women were working. And we, we were working. We have nothing to do so we just took stones from this place and put over there. And also give us five uh, five people a bread and give us once a day a little bit coffee in the morning and once a day a soup. We have to stay in the line. And we have to go in the kitchen--pick up. Every, every, every block have to go in the kitchen and pick up, and pick up the soup in a cup--pick up the soup. The women separate--over there, over there we have German girls already. Over there we had SS women. In Płaszów we had already SS women. SS women. If we staying outside we have to put on something on our head. We still have our, our hair. We have our hair. In Płaszów we have our hair. We used to go dressed just like there. So we have to put on the head. Also, every woman who used to be like eighteen, twenty years, we standing in the line for hours they count us.