Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Nathan Nothman - November 30, 1982

The Judenrat

Do you remember hearing anything about a uh, uh, Biberstein? A man named Biberstein was the head of the Judenrat? Biberstein, no?

Nothing, no. The head of the Judenrat in ghetto was ???

Okay.

His son with me were friends. We played soccer. He was shot. There was a, there was a, there was a ??? and ??? I forgot the name now. Chilowicz--no, no, ??? He was the chief of police in ghetto, he was a chief of police. And he had officers, but I can't remember the names, all of officers with him. And, uh...

These were Jewish police?

Jewish policemen. They watch, you know, they--if they were--if this was the good work so the SS Nazis said, "We need 1,000 people, or 2,000 people, 5,000..." they, they, they take everybody--you must come to work twice only or three times a week, because you get, if you don't work you don't get eat, you know, or, or--so we went to work. I work for--from ghetto. I work uh, a big truck, I mean. It picked us up, it went to SS commander. We work there maybe for three weeks and they didn't need us. Then I worked ??? ??? is a hospital what came from the Russian Front. But the German, they declare war on Russia, they kept on Russian Front. So we worked there, we stayed there for two, three days, five days. Worked with the Germans, worked with the German clean 'em out because they were very bad, bad shape and we help them. So we, we worked for the German and then we come home. A lot of times mother didn't know what happened with me. But uh, in 1941, that's what start. That was the worst thing.


© Board of Regents University of Michigan-Dearborn