Hermina Vlasopolos - April 9, 1984
Liberation III
When I reentered to the dorm everybody was already awake, crying, laughing shouting, dancing, hugging each other in a crazy indescribable confusion. The first place everybody ran to was the kitchen. Chunks of beef were hanging on the walls over the dryers and cold storage room. It was meant for the SS campers and the trembling hands were cutting and tearing pieces of raw meat and distorted mouths started chewing and swallowing the meat in a kind of desperation with dilated sparkling, frightening eyes. The cut the sacks of dry soup, the smell of that powdered soup can drive me crazy to this day. And from their palms they ate those greens frantically. I was still but was too frightened by what, by the time this outburst of gluttony and went to look for an escape to see if I could get out of the camp. The camp was a former factory surrounded by a high iron fence with a very high iron gate. The Germans had fled leaving us locked inside. I went up to the roof hoping to find a rain pipe or something else on which to slide down. A very deep river flowed right next to the wall and since I didn't know how to swim I was afraid I might fall into the river and gave up. While still on the roof I saw in the distance two men on bicycles approaching the camp. They were ges...gesturing frantically with their arms as if trying to tell me not to jump, to stay where I was. When they came closer I was happy to recognize my friends Tonio and Nikolai. I came down and I gave Tonio a big smile. He told me, "Le kapo écrire un lettre et ???" "The boss is writing a letter and crying." It was what I told them one night and he said, "This is very good." Only the two of us knew the meaning of those words which had become a formula of good, for good news. I told him how worried I was to be more of a prisoner now than before, but I was wrong. My dear friends had brought the shovel and they dug a hole under the gate. Many of us were able to crawl to freedom this way. Later on other Frenchmen and Italians came with pliers and other tools and opened the gates. We were free, we were all free. There are no words that could describe the feelings of that moment. When I saw myself in front of the gate outside I screamed, I danced, I kissed Nicolai and Tonio. It was almost impossible to cope with reality. I felt my heart was going to burst with so much happiness on the gorgeous May morning, the 9th of May, my new birthday. There was no trace of German troops, nevertheless the former prisoners surrounded our camp. They were armed. How did they get to those weapons, I didn't know and at that time I didn't try to find out. There was the camp ten taking turns so nobody would be able to come close and eventually do us any harm. Then in front of my eyes the passenger train came by carrying free people, women with long hair dressed in pretty clothes. I know longer asked myself if I had, as I had so many times if I would ride the passenger train again. The foreign prisoners entered the deserted food stores in the village and took everything they were able to carry. ??? without their bounty, which consisted of sugar, canned goods and rice. In some backyards they found a few turkeys, they organized them"--organized was when you were stealing...
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