Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Albert Fein - February 19, 2005

Why do you think it took a whole day?

Yeah, it took us a whole day. They stopped, you know, cool down the, the engines and so far, we was not in a hurry, you know.

But there's no food and no water and no, no toilet.

Yeah. So we could go down, you know, in a ditch, you know.

Oh, they stopped to let you off?

They stopped. Yes. Woman: Excuse me, would you like coffee or tea, maybe, something to drink?

Uh, some tea would be good. Woman: Okay, good.

I guess I would be curious as to what it was, what it was like for people in the boxcar. Was it...

In the boxcar? First of all we was waiting on, on the, the Jewish communities in certain--on certain stations they was bringing us food.

Oh, okay. So, this, this is different than what hap...happened later.

They was bringing us some coffee, a couple loaves of bread uh, when we came closer to the city ??? Sighet, they was bringing us mămăligă --I don't know if you know...

Mm-hm. You heard about it?

Yeah. This is cornmeal, cooked, you know, in pieces. There was this thing. And they brought us some sour milk.

So how do you suppose they knew there were Jews on this train? How did they know that there...

The Jewish community, they know.

They knew.

They knew about it. Sure, sure, they knew.

So what did you think? Where did you think you were going?

I didn't know. Beside this, I was a kid, I didn't think even. I couldn't imagine, you know? Now, I can see whole picture of it, only in those times--here a, a child thirteen year old...

So did you arrive directly in Kamenetz-Podolsk?

Yes.

At the train station.

Not the--they stopped on the lower end of the--of Kamenetz-Podolsk. There was a church, and they stopped us there by the church. They robbed every person.