Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Martin Koby - April 20, 1999

Mr. Czepko

Now, Czepko was the man who, who...

Taught us the art of survival.

...taught you the art of the survival. And you, you still--you kept contact with him throughout...

No, never. You see, when we were in...

Well, after the war?

...you have to understand, huh?

After the war, did you make contact?

No.

Nothing?

No.

Hm.

We were in the city. I used to see them, you know. I used to go to the village you know, the first summer. First of all and I guess my parents uh, uh, let's put it this way, my fa...my mother was not, I'll say a, a diplomat. Okay, I told you that. But that's the way she was and so, so there's nothing you can do about it. But she was a smart politician. As far as I'm concerned, I don't know that many mothers or that many fathers did for the two of us, me and my brother, what our parents did for us. I don't know, I, I, I did not think about it. I didn't you know, consider it seriously for a long time. When I was an adult, had kids of my own, then it dawned on me. This was a, a big effort on their part. Big, big consideration. So she used to send me--you know, she made sure that we either had fresh air or had exercise. I don't know whether she knew about all this, but that's what it turned out. That's what it amounts to. Used--we used to--I used to go the village to avoid the bombs that the Germans used to pour on us in Rovno.


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