Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Lanka Ilkow - October 12, 1991

Uh, after your brother was killed um, did you still have contact with the non-Jews in the town?

Uh, not too much because I was not home already that much, you know. Uh, there--that uh, the priest family moved away to Ungvar. But during the war they was taken away too, you know. So I never know what happened to 'em. I just heard that one of the girls uh, become a nun. But uh, we was not in contact.

So did anyone react to the death of your brother? Any of your neighbors?

Oh yeah, yeah. They was all very, very reacting. They come to the house and they felt sorry. They... Uh, matter of fact, when they was taking us away from home the head of, like the mayor of the city came and said that how lucky he is that he died and, and he is buried here. Because they uh, announced you know, the news went that they you know, in banked and, and announced that they're taking the Jews away. So all the Goyim was running to see what they're--when they're coming to take us. So there was just one uh, Gentile fellow which I--when my husband was taken away he maked a store--they took away the stores already from the Jews. So he maked a store in his name, which was wrong but, in--but I was standing there. He says, at least you will have, you know. So and what, they was uh, cutting the woods and taking, shipping it to Hungary and the Gentile people maked a lot of money. So they came to the store and they was buying things special, chocolates and things like that. And sugar was rationed on coupon, you know. And I uh, went--people who had lots of kids they got the coupon. So I bought like a hundred kilo, I don't know how much pounds this is. You know, it's maybe two hundred pounds, I, I should say. I don't know. I was learning you know, to translate you know, from the kilo to deca. And uh, they uh, this about two hundred pounds uh, or more. I don't know, really. So uh, I was shipping it to the city and selling it on the black market. Cost me like a dollar a kilo and I was selling ten dollar a kilo you know, pengos in Hungarian. So uh, but I had somebody who bought the whole thing from me, you know. So we was allowed to sell wood. So we was cutting the woods in that lane. And between the wood I put a sack with uh, sugar. And put it so that and hired a guy, I went with the train and I hired a guy who was going to take it to the city. And uh, he, he came and uh, he didn't know he has the sugar there. So we invited him to the house and maked him a coffee and I unload myself there in that--the you know, in my aunt's uh, uh...