Hannah Fisk - January 24, 1983
Stealing Potatoes in Camp
Sure enough, he gave me an idea. I had on a coat. I took the pockets out from the coat, and I went. I didn't need them, because I had enough to eat but I took it for my girls. When I came back, I says, "Get up! Everybody get up and take it! Because I'm going to go to Auschwitz for you!" Sure enough, one night, he hear the Lagerführer--that's the SS--the Gestapo, coming from far away. He runs over to me and he says, "Go! Go! Go! Go! Please! Please! They're coming. Somebody's coming from the..." The Lagerführer was coming. I run home, boom, boom, boom, boom, the potatoes--full of potatoes in my coat. My luck that I was sleeping upstairs. You know how the bunkers are, down and up. I went in with the potatoes, and I cover myself and "Zzz, zzz," I pretend I'm sleeping. And she comes in and she opens the light and she says, "Damn it, who is grabbing--who is stealing potatoes here? I saw somebody!" And she got to go around with the, the Jewish woman. I was more afraid for the Jewish woman but from her. She was really a Jew. She was not as bad but she had to pretend, after all, she's German. And I said, "Dear God, if she finds me with these potatoes, tomorrow I'm in Auschwitz." I said, "Do something ???, do something." Three, four times she came back, she put the light on. The German--the, the Jewish uh, girl says to her, you know, "Frau Lagerführer, nobody was here, I didn't see nobody. Really, because I was up 'til now, and I didn't--I, I just went to sleep." She says, "Myself, I didn't see no light or nothing." She says, "I see something running from the ???." God was good to me. She went away. Then they came in and put the little stone in my window and I know already. So I got down and I open the light and I say, "Girls come take these potatoes! I'm going to get killed because of you!" And that girl, what I call you, last week I was in B'nai Brith and there was a woman sitting and she told a story. She'll never forget those potatoes. Everybody got up, grabbed the potatoes from me, put it in little thing, thing so they had what to eat. But I almost--that was my life, you see? That was not a few times--quite a few times.
© Board of Regents University of Michigan-Dearborn