Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Martin Koby - April 20, 1999

In Rovno?

Yeah.

Yeah, okay.

And uh, when we came in there, they--you know, when we, we moved in. When we came in February, there maybe were five Jews.

In Rovno?

I don't know where they were from. There was us and you could--they--you know, they--our--cong... started congregating in the old shul, the--the ??? Shul.

Uh-huh, Hm.

But there was not enough. And besides, it was decided, we can't congregate here because of the anti-Communist--Communists against religion. You know, we'll get ourselves into trouble. People already understood because of two years experience before.

Did you know already what had happened to most of the Jews of Eastern Europe?

No. Only knew about Rovno.

And you knew...

I mean, we knew they was killed here, because their--you know, what's you know, what's, what's little ??? got to do with me? How does it affect--I feel badly, now don't get me wrong. But you know, that's...

Well...

Der Zater gloibt nisht dem Hingeringen. The--you know, the--how do you, you can't understand hunger unless you're hungry.

Say it again.

Der Zater gloibt nisht dem Hingeringen. That the, the man--the satiated man can't understand hunger.

Hunger.

Or can't understand a hungry man.

Uh-huh.

How can you understand this? You know, you--lotta--you were here, hidden like a rat, or hidden, right? You're sorry you, you, you, you enjoy walking the street, not too fast, because I couldn't walk--you know, I couldn't hit my foot.

All right. So you--that means, you couldn't understand the experience of the people who had been sent to camps and who had...

Yeah.