Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Helen Jutkevicz - November 10, 1982

Life in Bergen-Belsen

What, what did you encounter when you arrived at Bergen-Belsen?

Oh, this was, this was--Bergen-Belsen, I will never, never believe something like that. You not can imagine.

How were you transported there?

With the ???, yes. You know, this was, this--I know this, when I have to be in Bergen-Belsen one week more, I don't know. Why by us in brain, you know? When you want to wash, we came for water was very dirty, you know, from this--from the, how is to say? What you clean up this was a dust--everything. Is good was--happy I was because I not have the hair, you know? This was one good and when you want to wash was a washroom, you know, special like for the--for horses or something. This was cold water and after cold water you wash then you wash the warm, you know, is was not when it was so cold, is ok. Then this was very cold until we bring some wood in, in the place and we have an oven and we make--on Sunday we're not working--then we make the water and we cook our one nightgown what we have, you know, we cook this so this is not the lice to come. And this was little clean we wanted and when came to the lice start to bite you, holes from five, six inches, oh God. In not the water, in nothing, and the corpse all over. To the toilet you not can go, when you go you go on the dirt and the people was laughing so and the typhus was like fire. God, we see this and I went one week more, I--it's just this--not to eat and not to wash and not the water and no nothing and when you became soup----til after you eat you think you eat up so a bowl of soup you will be enough. No, you know, this soup was poison something to the inside of us. This was--this I have two weeks, two weeks this.


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