Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Joseph Klaiman - May 4, 1982

Conclusion

Is there anything else you want to add? If not we can stop it, if you think of other things...

What can I add about things? I can remember a lot of things.

Are there any other um, camp experiences that you remember of friends, or things about the Germans?

What can I tell? I can tell you I was in a camp in uh, I came in Gleiwitz I, over there was no work. Every time people came and just to go, and they took them to uh, to kill and uh, and one day they came in and holding a, a kettle of soup and they take the, the soup and throw it on the floor. And uh, and anybody who wants to go on the floor to eat they took some--they had some stake and then and hit it over the head and blood was running all over and killed people and people were still so hungry they fell on the floor and eating the blood with the potatoes with everything together. I cannot talk so much about this kind of thing because I don't want to remember this no more in my life. It's just--it's enough talking about this kind of killing because nobody in my, in my life if somebody would ask me now that this could happen I would say, no. That...

Even today.

...even today I would say no that, and I feel that it could happen. That people--if you get people power, you get people to ??? they can do the same, people it's like animals. Sometimes animals is better with people, if animals are not hungry they're not going to bother some--nobody. And people when they are not hungry but you give 'em the power they can do everything with you, because they want to be better than you. And that's why--what can I uh, say about this kind of thing. That's why we are created this way.

Thank you very much for uh, I think you did very good.

It was very hard for me

Was it. But I hope that it's helpful and I hope that, uh....

I don't know it's helpful, it's not helpful, I never... It has to be in the history, has to be in the history.

And be very happy to make you a copy...

Please.

...so you can have it in you library, for your kids, for your grandchildren...

Thank you.

...and I want to thank you very much because I know it was difficult.

It was something, it's--you don't want to talk so much about it. You want to forget. You're never going to forget it because it's an awful lot.


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