Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Albert Fein - February 19, 2005

I remember only what my father was saying and praying all the time. He believed--he was a believer. We was all believers ???. What was happen the day was supposed to be the uh, the execution in the morning, because they, they go to ghetto--the 26th, they took us out from the ghetto. The whole day people was going because there was no bridge so we had to go down the steps. There was a bridge 70 meters high, and there was two stories, so we have to go down by steps to the water, there was a little wooden bridge, go through and go up again. This was taking a whole day. In the evening they brought us in--there was a place, I don't know this--there was a railroad station or what. There was a thing where they had all kind of, uh, marinated vegetables. They had cement uh, things, you know, where the Russians had, had those vegetables. There was no, no--this was emptied only it was still smelling, you know? Anyway, we was there overnight. In the morning, one guy--he went out to the window and put on the tefillin and tallit and start to pray and a German, you know, take the gun and shoot him. And there it started--a noise, you know? How come? This is--my mom, she says, "This is unbelievable! How a person who prays, to kill them! He was probably drunk or, you know?" Nobody could even imagine, imagine, you know, that this happened. So then it started, "Raus, Raus, Raus! Everybody out and nothing take it with you. Throw everything on, on uh, on one spot." And they were driving us I don't know how, how far, you know? Only I know this was out of the city and there, there it started the execution. They started to walk around with hats, you know, to collect watches, gold, whatever--everything. People were giving it away....

Before they were shot.

Yeah.