Fred Kendal - May 25, 1983
Life in Work Camp II
Uh, the guards in the work camp, were they German or Ukrainian...
It's a combination of both. Uh, I think the camp officers and so on and so forth and I--I think they were mostly German but there were also Ukrainians also. And--and the Ukrainians I think were even worse than the Germans. I mean they used to work--the guards or the police that, that--the so-called officials. I'm not saying that all of the Ukrainians were bad, probably, but the ones that were with the Germans, they were worst than the Germans were. And, and like they had--and, again, a lot of this is probably not firsthand knowledge but a lot of it about is hearsay what you hear--what other--the adults and the other people have constantly said that they had to prove something to the Germans that they are, you know, tougher and worse and they were.
How are workers treated at the work camp?
Uh, uh, from what I remember uh, not good. Not good at all. As a matter of fact, they used to uh, have quotas and crews and you have to produce so much and once you produce that much, they wanted you to produce more and it was just like a constant type of thing. And um, and it was like the man were digging the soft coal that they called ??? but it...it's the soft coal and it's like a peat moss or peat humus or something of that nature. It's--you dig it and it's--this I remember it was like a dark brown, almost black and you dig it in squares like blocks--like bricks and then they would dig it and into squares and then they would stack it and pile it and allowed to dry and once it became dry is when they used it for fuel, to heat, you know, burn or whatever. And that's what it was. That's as much as I can remember now.
© Board of Regents University of Michigan-Dearborn