Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Nancy Fordonski - July 29, 1982

Is that where you were liberated?

Yes. Yeah.

Can you describe your liberation?

Because there were just a few of us and there was no camp. So there was no big thing. Really I thought, and maybe this was many times kept me going, that I was thinking that one day when the liberation will come, when we will, will be free people, they will pick us up and jump with us that uh, we are something special. But to that village, a little town, Tepla near Carlsbad, they were going through just tanks with soldiers, American soldiers. So uh, we were not dressed. And if, if a girl is not dressed and not uh, made up, so what did American soldier, what big business will he, will he have with you or give you any attention. So we just, we knew that the war is over and a few tanks were going through that little town and uh, the--they didn't show--they were happy to see us, that some people are still alive. And uh, we were out, crying for joy, happy, uh. It looked to us like uh, they were sent you know, just uh, to give us our freedom. After a few days came a notice to those farmers that they have to release us and send us uh, to a special place where they, they were trying to get together more people what were uh, more prisoners. Not like prisoners or war, but more people what worked at the friend farmers and people what were escaped on the way going to Theresienstadt. And it was a small camp. That place I cannot recall. It was not too big and there were just a few barracks.

Was it a DP camp?

There were, there weren't any--you see, it was s...uh, uh, it was still too early for any officials that they should try you know, to help us or get us together, whatever. But in the same time, when we were there and they came in some American officials and they said that they will try to feed us and help us. And then we'll be able to go wherever we want to go. They will put us on trains and they will help us. But the same time, I lost my voice. Completely. To such a degree that uh, "haaa" that's all. So uh, I went to an American doctor. I can't remember or he was Jewish. I just know that he was talking to me and I understood him. Because I was so upset and I was so frightened that--God help me already and the war is over and here we are ready to go home. I didn't know or we will find somebody at home, but we are already free people and I'm so young and I lost my voice. Completely. Completely. There was no sound, nothing. So that doctor said to me that--I don't he gave me some kind of pills. I remember they were purple. I don't know or this was try to relax me or whatever, I don't know. And he said that, that I shouldn't worry. The voice will come back. It might take some time. So I don't know or if something happened to my vocal chords or it was the excitement or anxiety or whatever. It took a few months 'til my voice came back. So after I heard from him that I shouldn't worry but still--how we say, it's easier to, it's easier said than done. Thought I'm coming home and here I'm crippled for life. They put us on trains because we had decided--my sister and the other girls, we had decided that we want to go back to Poland. Not knowing or somebody's alive or not. Just the people in Czechoslovakia and they were very nice people, but still it wasn't our home. So they put us on trains and uh, on the way there were a lot of people they were already uh, Russian people. Because they were going and coming, they were already going from Czechoslovakia into Germany. Poland, Warsaw, Łódź was already liberated since January and this was already--we were liberated in May the 8th, and this was already few days later. It was already almost by the end of May.