Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Abraham Mondry - June 15, 22, 29 & July 13, 1992

So, your family left Mlawa and went to Warsaw when the war started?

Yeah, we had to stay in Warsaw during the war. Afterwards--see, I went back after. I snuck back, you know.

To Mlawa?

No, to Warsaw. I was going and coming, you know. I had, I had, had different papers, you know. Like a Volksdeutsch, you know.

Uh-huh. Where did you get the papers?

Oh now, this is a... There was a city, they called it Nowe Miasto...Neustadt. It was about halfway from Warsaw into our city. I used to know my people. My brother married from there.

From Neustadt?

From Now...Nowe, Nowe Miasto. In Poland, they call it Nowe Miasto. Neustadt. There used to be a guy there used to work, when the Germans come in and took it over, you know. They went through it, but they took over the city hall. So he has to leave there, signed, signed permits, you know, to go for the Polacks. They give out so many. I used to steal. I used to give him ten dollars for every, every permit. I used to make it up myself. I want to go with the trade, every name I want to, you know.

So, different names?

Yeah, I put my own in. Different names. I had, I had about three different papers. I was going through the names all the time.

Do you remember what the names were?

I tell the honest truth...

And, and he drew up the papers for you on those names?

I printed...we printed it out ourselves.

So he was a forger.

Sure, everything was forgery. The whole world was forgery and black market. Let's say this way, you couldn't live. You couldn't live a day.