Marvin Kozlowski - August 28, 2002
Arrival in Birkenau
What's the first thing you remember when the doors opened?
The Kapos were standing on the ground.
You saw the Kapos first.
No, the Kapos were waiting for us.
Did you think there was fresh air?
They were Kapos from Auschwitz.
Right, I understand. Yeah.
So that's the first thing you remember?
They looked like giants. We were like this.
Okay.
We were skinny like, when we're gonna to finish. So we counted again, left, right, left right, I don't know which way. Uh, I think we went left and the other, the women went right. And the children were thrown right away, they had big trucks, grabbed by legs, thrown--there were a few kids--not too many, throw 'em on the truck. Uh, all I know that uh, we were standing in front. And later I found out that was part of...
Wife: Birkenau.
Birkenau and that we're standing on the, on the Gleiser--on the tracks and the orche...there was a orchestra on the right side and they were dancing. I said, "What the hell? A theater performing or what we're celebrating the i...the coming in." But we saw the way they're throwing the kids, we already knew what was going on. We were shipped to a place ??? closer to French border.
From Auschwitz. Right away you were shipped?
Right away. We did not go to Auschwitz. We were we were right away went on the, on the railroad tracks. And from there too...
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