Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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George Korper - March 26, 2007

Tell me a little bit about the farewell when you got on the train.

The farewell for me was very easy because I, I could--for me it was an adventure and you, you really do saw on the film--all the boys who are interviewed said for us it was no, no hardship, it was an adventure. We, we all thought we'd see our parents within two, two or three years. The war wasn't going to last. Everybody knew that the war was coming, of course. That was a given, but everybody thought it wouldn't last more than two to three years. So, in the meantime we are going to see a new country and new, new people so great. [laughs] The girls--I always point this out: for the girls it was a different story. The girls--it's the softer sex, let's face it and especially in those days they, they were very homely and--homely is the wrong word. Some of them were beautiful, but they, they were sort of attached to their mothers. For them it was very far, far, you see, and I don't know anybody who came to, to an environment of people whom they knew from before. They, they came to strangers. Uh, and uh, some...

You came to a family.

I came to--I tell you I was very fortunate, but, but the most of the people came to, to families they never knew and not every family was great. I mean uh, you know some people not abused them but, but um, used them.

Expected servants?

Expected a little bit, not servants. Nobody was--no slave labor there was known, not in England--not then slave labor was abused like but, um...

And the whole journey you felt the same way?

Yeah, the journey was fun. The part until we crossed the, the, the German border was a little tense, you know, because then we knew they could stop the train, they could search all our stuff again, pull the suitcases--everything was searched before. But that was also one of, one of my happiest moments in my life. I don't know if I mentioned it to them yesterday uh, but as we crossed the border into, into Holland we made the first stop--the train stopped in a station and there were ladies there with hot coff...hot chocolate and, and cakes and uh, sandwiches. That was the happiest.

Why?

Freedom!