Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Bernard Hirsch - June 29, 1982

So it happened that we went through about eight weeks, I went--start to go each one I knew of the Gentiles that I shouldn't be, I, I shouldn't be scared for them. So every once in, in awhile I walked in, in a house and I--at night and I asked them the question, I ask them, "What I should do? I should stay here?" Every one, every one to which one I went to ask, he said, "Don't worry, stay here. Nobody going to touch you." And happened like this. They gave me a different uniform. They gave me like the Gentiles they walking around, you know, cotton. Different like uh, a different type uni...like on the, each...

Street clothes.

Yeah, street clothes. So little by little I start to show off myself in this town. They knew me--everybody knew me. Everybody--the Gentiles they felt sorry what happened to the--to my parents. Except for one guy, I was afraid. He was the teacher in our school. He was even mine teacher. For him I was a little bit afraid because they told me that he, he was the one what he made my, my parents to go. My parents could have still stay a little longer. But he was the one that he, he sent them away. That's what they were saying--I wasn't there. I remember his name, ??? was his name. Anyway, after awhile I was walking around in town like, like now. Helping some Gentiles on the farm to work. And uh, I had--my father left me money uh, by one guy. And he was sending me to the army. He gave me every penny what he left the money, gave me every penny back. Uh, we were helped--we were like, in town walking like nothing would happen. We were twenty-eight Jews there. We were helping out on the farm for the Gentiles. Like one, one day one guy need two, three men, we went to help him. The other guy--lately they found out that somewhere, somewhere Jews they are hiding. The police was with us. The police was with us. So the police from Hanuŝovce wanted to know what the opinion is of the people that we are walking free around uh, in the city. So they sent out the police to ask, "Is he a Jews? Is he a Jew?" Said, "No, no." So we were like sixty percent free, you know, in town, walking around.

Yeah.