Henry Konstam - October 25, 1991
Surviving the Camps
How long in Jaworzno?
About, I was about two years, I think, in Jaworzno.
Two years.
Yeah.
And what do you think helped there that you could survive for two years? This is now four years that you've survived camps.
Well, it's, a lot of it is make up your mind. You have to. You make up... Hope is something that again cannot be described, how hope can keep you alive. If you, once you give up, you're dead.
But you did give up on the march.
I did not give up.
You went and asked to be shot.
Yeah. I, that one time. But later on I made up my mind again. I, I escaped which I couldn't understand. When I think about it still, I can't understand how I ran. How could I run? I couldn't even walk before. I couldn't stand and all of a sudden I ran. You, you, you make up your mind, you've got to do that and you do it. You want to survive, you've got to do it. You ha... I hadn't had much to lose. If I did, they would have shot me I would have been dead. I would have never leave, just the same for me. But, so I took a chance. I came out of it. I survived. If I didn't, I probably wouldn't have survived, I probably would have died that same... I, I just had that feeling, life is leaving me. You know, that's the, I knew life is leaving me. Either I do something about it or I am just going to die. I've seen too many people die with their little piece of bread in their hand, they couldn't take it uh, to their mouth anymore. So I knew I had to do something to live.
]interruption in interview]
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