Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Pauline Kleinberg - October 28, 1982

Memories II

And then I remember also one girl, I remember her name, Sarah. All of a sudden she lost her mind. She was working in the factory--??? will tell you about her too. And she said--and she let the machine run and said "What are you--why, why aren't you operate the machine?" She said, "I don't like this horse"--it was a pole--she lost her mind. And then in the middle of the night she was walking around the barracks, we were afraid. And one day we didn't see her no more. And this was in the best camp. And then I remember one girl, she survived, she is in, in uh, in uh, Toronto. She just couldn't go on hungry. For her keep--give her no food or not--for soul and body together was not enough. She needed more. So she slipped down the cellar for some raw potatoes. Once she got down there, "My God, how in the world--I...I'm here, how am I going to get out? I'm going to have to die here with potatoes together." She--if she couldn't make her--she couldn't find her way out. She came up. She had a good beating and they chopped her hair off. And this was in the best camp. This camp I see, say ninety-five percent would survive if it wouldn't be the death march. And here and there some slapping. One was trying to get a little bit of extra coffee--she see in the stand a coffee. She thought no one's going to see she'll pick up a little bit of coffee. So of course somebody see, you know. Did she getting a licking--was she kicked, was she--I don't know how else she made the following day to work, she was so swollen. But just she tried, you know, she thought no one sees, she can pick up a little--get her some coffee. She seen a, a can, you know, a great big can of coffee.

Do you ever talk about your experiences?

With whom? Just for the girls, the ones, you know, like, you know, with inmates--with the survivor. Like the one--like she knows what I'm talking about. Like, not with strangers, like the ones they know. Like whenever we play cards when we get together with the survivors. One tells the experience from their camp, and then we do. But the important part is, what--you know, we are all getting older and some of them are not here no more. You know, the important part is how, what's going to happen when we're gone? ???. And how, how do you get the list from others? Okay, I'm giving you ???--get it from Sharit Haplaytah you get a list there?


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