Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Lanka Ilkow - October 12, 1991

What, what, what was the occasion to leave Hundsfeld?

The Russians was coming. That's why that guy wanted to hide us. To be a hero he hid us, but we was afraid, you know. So uh, the Russians, if uh, the bridge was bombed after we crossed it.

So they marched you out of Hundsfeld to the front.

Yeah, but you see, when we come to--we walked to Breslau and there was a big bridge. And after we went through the bridge, the bomb fell on the bridge. If would have before, they could not take uh, take us. We have be uh, from the Russian, freed from the Russian.

An airplane, was it?

Yeah.

An airplane dropped the bomb.

They bombed the bridge. The bomb fell at the bridge and, and we was--I mean, gosh. Good, good thing we went through. They, they would have bombed us. But uh, no, they didn't. They never uh, hit our girls, never--with a....

So you think if they had bombed the bridge...

We would have be freed

earlier, you would have been freed by the Russians.

by the Russians. Yeah. A lot of girls was freed from the Russians. So maybe those women who jumped on the uh, streetcar, maybe someplace they was freed.

So you made it across the bridge and you saw it go, you saw it go up?

Yeah, yeah. After we was a few meters away, the bridge just blow up, the whole thing there. It was a big bridge.

And then--so you were now on the death march.

Yeah. Then we was marching January 8th, I never forge the date. We was marching, I don't know, night and day you know, five in a row. And if you went out of the line, they shot you. So many times I wanted just--with my sister, because I couldn't schlep her anymore, she couldn't walk and we was helping each other, a few girls--we knew each other from uh, home. So we was helping each other. Two girls, two sisters, they was in love with my brother, both of them. And they was with us together. They helped me all the time, schlepping her. You see, here the survivors, a lot of times there they uh, uh, it was so rich at home, so I tell you rich--not too many rich people survived. Because people like us who was working in--on a farm, living on a farm and didn't have everything, those people bet...s...had uh, I mean, had more chances to survive than those who was you know, ???...

Mm-hm... I; So, uh...