Stefa (Sarah) Sprecher Kupfer - July 24, 1987
Rationing
So they were rationing?
There were rations. Yes.
Had you registered at this point?
No. No, we were still at home. The registered people have left.
But they knew you were Jewish and they knew what you did?
Yes, yes, I guess they probably knew that not everybody is going to register; I don't know what they had in mind.
When the rationing began, you were still in your house?
Yes.
Who would go and stand in line?
Well, in our case, we didn't because we had flour, so Momma would send me to the baker and we would get our own bread. But all our neighbors did.
What about other food, meat, eggs, milk?
No, that was not available, that was not available, sometimes some farmers would bring in something from the farms, from the villages and you were able to buy. But food was right away scarce.
Were you in a ghetto?
No. Before the ghetto was erected, we left. And we left to save our lives. People in the ghetto were only between 18 and 40 or 45. Now neither I nor my sister were 18. My mother knew that no way will she be able to take us into the ghetto, so she decided that we are not going to go into the ghetto. And, at that time, her sister who lived in Krosno, that was a city not far from Sanok, they went through the action--Aktion before so she sent me there to find out what happened to them. And if they are alive and whatever, maybe we can come. I went to the city and I went to the Judenrat and they told me where my aunt and uncle and the two daughters are, they were working in the factory and living there too. And I went there. And I remember my aunt telling me, stay with us, don't go back, you can't go back they will kill you, and she could, I and my cousin could alternate because we were very close in age, so she wanted to keep me there, but I went back home and I told Momma that Tanta Marka said we should come.
Who made this up?
I made this up. I don't know why. I made it up. Because she didn't. So the next day, Momma packed a big suitcase and a briefcase with food and she hired the Polish lady to send my sister and me to Krosno, she was to follow a few days later. And we left and right away, on the train, people were saying, oh where are the Sprecher children going? My father was very well known in the city and so were his children and his family and the woman heard it and I guess she got scared and she disappeared. When Nina and I got off the train, we were stopped by two plainclothes men. And they knew that we were Jewish.
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