Martin Koby - April 20, 1999
Discussing Feelings
Well, let, let me pursue, pursue this a little bit. Did, did, did you at any time before or after that moment, that time when you felt free, I guess is the...
Yes.
Start to think about why this had happened to you...
No.
...what--that, that never came up?
No. We--I don't think we ever--we did, we did as a family or as a group, we did not discuss--the only thing we used to discuss you know, with strangers--Rovno became like a capital for refugees, because uh, there was no--there was no center. You know, if you came to your hometown and you were the only Jew or maybe two other Jews, you didn't stay there.
...Hm.
You know, you make sure you, you know, you left that same day, because you know, one day--you know, how uh, uh, the darkness of the night hides everything, right? You don't know. So there were all kinds of Jews. And you went--you know, you walked up to--you heard one story, you heard another story. How many stories can you hear? You know, you ask people--a lot of them came from the Soviet Union, as the army moved west you know, they kept following them back. A lot of them came from partisans. But you didn't know--what did you--it never occurred to me you know, to ask, "What did you do? You were a partisan? Big deal!" That's okay. Take them for granted. "Where did you come from?" "Sarny." "Okay, where are you from?" "Uh, from ??? over there." That's it, you don't want to--no on one--uh, philosophizes.
The last--the last time you talked about um, Mr. uh, I didn't write the name down?
But what? What's, what's...
The man who had helped you--who had hidden you?
Mr. Szczasny?
Mr. Szczasny. And then you...
That was the last stop, yes.
And when you left his house, your father said, "Let's go out the..."
The back door.
"...the back door." Or some...
Yeah, yeah. No one know where we came from.
Because you, you thought that if the man...
My father--my parents already knew...
That his, his...
...the art of retribution.
And his neighbors might have, um...
Yeah and they might--the neighbors might be seeing--might see.
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