Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Ilya Martha Kessler - November 1, 1982

Now, when you went to the uh, to the work camp um, how did they choose people for that? How did they pick you?

???

Okay, and did your cousins go with you there, the girls?

Yes ??? yeah. Then... I don't have cousins--how do you say?--they hid my... all my cousins. My father has cousins. My cousins after the war ??? because my aunt ??? you have to and my uncle who come home after the war because they flee the war...

I see.

...the children because they have children.

Right.

You understand?

Yes, yeah. Now when you went to the work camp um, how did they take you? Did you go by train again, or...

Mm--hm. ??? and they took us from there. We walked to the factory and then we came from the factory.

And what was the name of the factory, do you remember?

I don't know, no.

Okay.

I am sure they knew because it's Freudenthal. That's a small place ???

Freudenthal.

Freudenthal. The city is Freudenthal. They know this.

And you were making clothing, you said? Cloth?

They making, they making mask where there's going to be the gas.

I see, I see. And what were the conditions like there uh, living conditions I mean?

It wasn't so bad because, how I say, we was working the other people when we went to work. So, they gave us uh, better uh, overall they gave us and a little better soup, a little bit better bread.

How long did you work there? How long were you there?

Until the Russian came.

When was that? That was...

May.

In May?

May 6, I think.

Okay.