Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Bernard Hirsch - June 29, 1982

All right, let's talk about your liberation when you were freed.

Well, after the liberation when I was free, like I said that I wanted to get a room in my house. And I got it the room, I threw him out. I mean, not me, the court. I had to go to court that they should give him that he has to move, he has to give me the room I should--where I should live. I remember--yeah--when I came down the 19, I had to go to the army. I had to go to the army when I--not even three weeks. I got sick. What was my sickness? My feet and my hand 'til here and my feet 'til here got swollen. I couldn't move. I couldn't move with my feet. So the guy what I was mentioning when I run away from the army, when I walked in the first time in his house--the first guy, Adam--he took me--it's twenty-four miles to the hospital--kilometer, twenty-four kilometer. He took me on a wagon and he was taking me to the hospital. I remember I was laying in the, in, in the wagon which is straw and a cover on me. And a guy--I know who is--who he was--and he said, "Who you having there? Who--with who you going in uh, the hospital?" He said, "Berko." He said, "Roll down and throw him down with the hill," this guy. I knew who he was. And then when I couldn't move this time from the, fro...from the wagon. So I went in the hospital and I was three weeks in the hospital, swollen, my hand and my feet. They let me out after three weeks because on account a lot people they were in hospital, they didn't have place for me. I went home--back to this guy--I didn't go in my house. I went to stay--he gave me a bed in his house there, Adam. And I was staying there and in uh, two weeks, three weeks, again the same thing happened.

Did you know what it was? What was causing it?

Thro...they called it thrombosis. They called--there, there was from the cold to get to the warm heat. I was living wild, all of a sudden I came to sleep in a house into this, so this what. I went back and I was another six weeks. Then I didn't--they didn't send me out 'til I was complete. And thank God since there, I have a little rheumatism, yeah. But this was--I remember they called them thr...I needed some papers, so I s...was--I was already here and I asked the hospital and I saw the doctor said thrombosis, that was the sickness.