Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Isaac Engel - June 16 & 25, 1992

Talking About Experiences

You've told Toby--you have how many children?

Three.

You've told your children about your experiences during the war.

Oh yes, oh yes.

So they know all about it.

They know all about it.

Do you ever have any nightmares?

I uh, now not as much. I used to have a lot of 'em. The whole thing, you know. All different kinda things.

What in particular?

When, when they round up the place and stuff like this.

Did you dream about your parents?

Dream about my parents? Yes.

You told me last time it was the fiftieth anniversary.

It's going to be in, in September.

In September.

When I departed my parents.

Let me ask you a question. Do you remember the last thing you said to them?

Yeah.

What was the, what was the final...

Goodbye.

Just goodbye. They expected you to come back.

That's right.

And you expected them to be there.

Right. There was no question in my mind.

Is there anything that you think you'd like to tell me more?

It's been going through a lotta things I forgot already. If somebody would remind me maybe I would, it would come back to me. And uh, and--I used to be good memory, but now it's getting a little you know, less. And--there was a lotta things. But uh, we went through hell at five and a half years which it's cannot be told. It's absolutely--it cannot be told because people will not believe it. How can this people do, with such a culture, a German culture--they were using their culture to kill people--how this could be done, how this... People don't believe. So that's, that's the story. Is uh, this is unbelievable that human beings can do that to somebody, to any--even to an animal, something what they did sadistically.

Okay we'll stop there. Thank you.

You're welcome.


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