Abraham Holcman - September 14, 1983
Arrival in Auschwitz 2
Uh, what happened after you got into the camp? What was the next thing that happened? Did they take your clothes or shave you or...
Yeah, the, the, all the, all the packages we had to leave uh, near the train. So, the only thing we had with us was what we had on. Then we went into uh, to take a bath. We uh, we left all the clothes and, and, and then we got uh, we got out, we got different clothes.
Were men and women together or were they separated?
No, the men separate.
And then after you got your clothes, what happened next?
We got, we got uh, we went into, to a camp, Zigeunerlager, which is a gypsy camp, what they called it. Anyway, we got in there. Then uh, then the Jews, one fellow--I'll never forget it--was walking back and forth and he says, now whatever you smuggled over the first, now is the time to, to pay up here. You know, whatever you got hidden, here and there whatever. Don't give it out here. And I didn't pay attention, I had a ring with me which uh, I, I, I didn't want to smuggle it out, but I was scared stiff to smuggle it over. But somehow by rushing I, I went through with it. And he took it away from me.
Did the ring have a special meaning to it? Was it given to you by...
Yeah, it was given to me by my sister, which is the only uh, valuable thing in, in my life at that time.
And this gypsy took it from you?
Not a gypsy, a Jew.
A Jew?
Mhm.
Did you fight with him or?
No, you couldn't, you couldn't fight with him. He was uh, he was standing on a, in camp, there was a...
Was he a Kapo?
He was a, he was a... It's special commander, it wasn't a Kapo. He took care, he came in right after we walked in and this was um, this was a big oven in the middle of the, of the uh, hall. At one time, the horses there and this used to be the heating unit. So, he was standing on the heating unit, walking back and forth and they were saying everybody who going to make x-rays, whatever you got hidden, gold or whatever, give it here otherwise you're going to pay dearly. Some people came up, whatever they had hidden and they give him. And uh, and then I noticed that I got my ring and I gave it to him.
And then what happened?
And, and, and then the day after that, they selecting uh, for work and uh, to ship out from Auschwitz. And uh, one time uh, I was in real trouble. Uh, they selected my brother and they didn't select me. And I wanted to go together. So uh, they, they were supposed to go uh, near, near French border, a camp. I can't think of the name of the camp. So uh, so I went uh, I wasn't selected, but I went with the group anyhow. So, they counted too many uh, so there were halting everybody and they going to kill, you know, that guy who uh, is not uh, on the list. I didn't want to move out. So, they start calling the names and the numbers... I don't remember was the names or numbers. So, I ran away. And then uh, a minute later I came back to the other ??? They still had three too many. So, they eliminate the last three.
Did you see them shoot the three or how did that...
They didn't shoot the three.
They just took 'em away?
They just took 'em away to a different uh, different transport because I wanted to stay with my brother.
Uh-huh.
There was another fellow uh, which I knew we were working together in the factory in, in, in the ghetto, Zuckerman. And uh, he was in the same boat as I uh, he was not selected and, and his brothers--he had two brothers--two brothers were selected, and the third one wasn't. So, he stood there and I stood there. So yeah. So, I knew about him, he knew about me.
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