Louis Kaye - May 9, 1983
Liberation
You say you were liberated in 1945 by Eisenhower.
Liberated April 11, 1945 near Albstadt by Eisenhower.
Near what town?
Albstadt. Not far from Buchenwald. I was liberated by General Eisenhower, April 11, 1945.
Tell me about it, that day.
That day when I was liberated, I was in the forest with my friend who's still here in town. I was liberated with him together. And we was hiding for a few hours. The Germans were going through killing people, we were hiding in the forest a whole night. Then the American come in, in morning and they liberate us. When they come in, we were waiting for them, everything.
Did you...
They help us with everything.
Did you know that they were near?
Yeah, we knew they're near, yeah. Because we hear talking with the—some Germans, they coming in, we should be quiet in the forest and not make no fire because the plane going, afraid they will burn up their houses and everything. So. One time a German come in, in the forest, I jump at him with my friend I thought they wanted to kill us and we jump at them ???
Was this a soldier that you jumped on?
It, it was not a soldier, it is soldier on the way, like you, like you got civil defense here, people who working with the police, they're not police, they're for feeding. So, they take care of the city, a little village. So, when they come in and see a fire, I thought maybe they asked to do something, so we jump at them. And if they walked away, we go our way and we were hiding ourself overnight. We don't want to go no place. I got... still got a friend over here who was with me liberated April 11, '45. I was already in concentration camp from 1943 up to the end. He live in town here.
What did you do when you jumped this guy?
Pardon me?
What did you do when you jumped on this guy?
Oh, we jump at him, then he got scared with us. He walked away. He say he don't want to do nothing to us. We want to make sure. We got nothing to lose. And I was the stronger one. The one that I'm talking about he was like a skeleton. I was lucky. I was... When I come out, I was healthy. I was lucky. I come out healthy. That was in Germany.
You were in Germany then when we you were liberated.
Yeah, I was liberated in Germany. Then after I was liberated I was living there about a week or two weeks and then go back to Buchenwald.
Where were you living?
Over there in Nord... Albstadt not far away from my concentration camp—my concentration camp—and then we'll go to Buchenwald, we go to, go to the Buchenwald because the Russians come in, I don't want to stay with the Russian. So, we go back to Buchenwald and then from Buchenwald we're going, I live in Bömberg.
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