Abraham Holcman - September 14, 1983
Treatment in Görlitz
What were the other workers like?
The uh, the German, the German workers... When we started uh, working, there was German girls working there too. And uh, they didn't believe that we were Jews. From the beginning uh, we were talking to them. She thought Jews had horns or something, uh... They didn't believe. They were about uh, seventeen, eighteen-year-old girls. In about a week, a week, just a week. And then they disappeared.
Okay, so.
And then we got uh, French, French people working uh, same place. And they were no good either.
What was wrong with the French people? Were they men or women?
Men, French men. And...
Jewish or...
No, non-Jews and uh, one particular one was a priest. He was saying was, you know, they treat us really bad.
What did he do?
They were pouring cold water over you and stuff like that. You couldn't defend yourselves.
The German supervisors didn't stop them?
They uh, they didn't care or they didn't notice or whatever.
Anybody else treat you badly?
Me personally? No.
No. Did you see other people being treated badly?
Yeah, mhm.
What did you see?
Like, like I say, there was... We had one guy who was about fifty-five, fifty-eight years old, a Jew, working with us. And uh, and the French made a laugh and they uh, they ??? and pour cold water over him and stuff like that.
Did they hit him, kick him?
Uh-huh. Uh...
Did they kill anybody?
No, no. The uh, another thing I had uh, I uh, I found fifty mark, Deutschmark and I had it uh, for a long time. So, here come a French, so I thought uh, I get a bread out of it or something. And, uh...
[interruption in interview]
You were saying you found fifty Deutschmark. And what happened? What did this...
And I had it for a long time. I didn't know how to buy anything or where can I get it. Finally when I saw the French, you know, this supposed to be a friendly French. Everybody was saying that's the best guy out of all of them. So I trusted him, and uh, see maybe bring me a bread, a loaf, whatever he can out of this. And he went to, reported me right away.
And what happened when he reported you?
Uh, when I went, when I went back in camp, then the uh, the Kapo knew. I don't know how the Kapo knew. Somebody told the Kapo. And the Kapo told the, the, the Blockälteste and so on, and I got a beating.
Who, who gave you the beating? Germans?
No, Jews.
Jews.
Mhm.
Was it public?
It was, it was during the lunch. Make you come home from work, after work we got soup and bread and that time.
Did you have to go into the hospital or in a barracks?
No, no. I covered up and I just got kicks back and forth.
And then you were expected to go back to work?
Yeah, I, I went back to work.
Uh-huh.
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