Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Marvin Kozlowski - August 28, 2002

German Occupation

And when they marched into Radom, do you remember that?

Yeah. They marched in Radom and...

Wife: The eighth. A week.

It was September I think.

Wife: I know. September 1st started, September 8th they took it over.

Yeah. September 8th.

What do you remember about the march?

Well, we were afraid, we were scared. They came in and made us open the store. They bought out the, all merchandise. We were empty. We had a beautiful store. They bought, bought out everything in the store. For money that you couldn't buy anything ???. It was worthless, occupation money. You were just able to buy, if you stayed in line, a pound of bread or something else. Everything was uh, rationed.

Right away.

Right away.

What did they look like? What did you--what did they look like to you?

Every German looked to me like a giant. I looked up and like--with the high boots. Scared, you know. So I had a chance when they were coming in, I thought the Wehrmacht is a little bit more liberal. So right away, after this conversation, short brief conversation, my father was hiding at the time. And when he come out of the basement uh, they were right away taking away men and shipping them--we didn't know where. So I said to him uh, I--we started talking about it, something, and I said, 'Why do they uh, why do they are so terrible to the Jewish people?" "The Jews, they're furchtbar they all will be Asch gemacht! Make ashes out of them!" A Wehrmacht, like that, stepping with his foot, like this, an officer. So I shut up right away and, and was hiding until then. Then went to work and I was working for quite awhile. And took beatings too. And then decided I'm going to hide in, in the basement. They were looking for me.


© Board of Regents University of Michigan-Dearborn