Albert Fein - February 19, 2005
Passing as a Christian II
So I got ready of it, I got ready of it before we, we left. So we left there uh, my two sisters they were blonde, I was blonde, and my mom was blonde, and my father was dark haired, and my brother was dark haired. The general looked at us for pro...profile, you know, from side to front, speaking to my mother. We didn't speak too much, you know, my accent would, would think so he, he think--I don't know what he was thinking. He says, "Back. Take them back." And he understood back someplace, you know, so we were going back and there was already lines started. This mean uh, forming and those Germans was asking, "Where you take them?" and he says, "The General says to take them back." And he took us back all the way and put us on the side. We were sitting there and waiting. There was people coming, you know, asking us, "What you are sitting here? If this is the case, we are not Jews." "We are not Jews either," and they sit, sit down beside us. This way we had, had thirty two people from where I talk about Gheorgheni, yeah? Here, Gheorgheni. This is Bukovina, and from there was about twelve Jewish people. They went to Gheorgheni. They came from Gheorgheni and this, and this happened. So okay everything--the General was on--there was a plane--a small plane--he left. So, the whole command was in this person--this soldier's hand and he says, "I will take you back to the barracks." They have no papers because everything was there thrown away, you know? Go find papers. And he took us back--first of all we were all hungry like dogs--didn't eat the whole day, so he brought for us from the kitchen, food. He brought food and he gave his name, his name was Josef Swintek. And he says he has been from Berlin, and he says to us, "Look, there is..." there was, you know, like a house full of things--luggages, belongings, all kind of things, you know. "Find--if you find it, then you are lucky."
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