Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Ilya Martha Kessler - November 1, 1982

Liberation II

And when the Russians came, what happened? How did... When they came and liberated the area, what... Did they help you at all or did they...

??? They were so stupid ??? from the German and they want to start ??? and there was a Jewish uh, with the soldier, you know. And he said ??? He saw I was in Auschwitz and he understand we are Jewish and that's not because we wanted to come into Germany. So, he said, "We going to ???" They gave us ??? to go back. He said two weeks until I get ??? the end of the war and I give you and you can go home. So, he sent us almost home. So, he was ??? That's ??? they thought that's ??? the German.

Did you know that they were coming? I mean, did you know that the end of the war was, was close? Did anybody talk about...

No, nothing, just... We was working ??? we saw ??? the factory there was ??? and people came and kids here you know uh, not to lose the kids and you saw they came from uh, near Auschwitz. And ??? there, the Russian came. So, we, we thought ??? we didn't know exactly. So uh, one day we start to hear it ??? So, and uh, and the German he ??? so he said, are you going to go with the ??? didn't let the Germans go. So, the ??? nobody there, nothing ??? They running, now ??? it's already the end. Just we was afraid they going to come back and kill us. So ??? I had a little uh, potato--they gave us sometime potatoes because if we were--and I said that we ??? my cousin said, "Don't go back, don't go back." I said, "No, I am hungry. I go back." So, I went back and I saw all five ??? the German ??? in the camp. Two Germans they came back and said to everybody to go out and go with them. He want... She want to kill us. And the girls said ??? the Russian come, they said no, we are not going. So, and uh, she ran away. They let her. She want to kill everybody.


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