Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

• Contents
• Map

Nathan Nothman - November 30, 1982

That's that Amon Göeth that you're talking about?

The ghetto...

Yeah. Did you ever hear of Lenin Chilowicz, Chilowicz?

Chilowicz.

Chilowicz.

Chilowicz. He was the commander from that Kraków-Płaszów, you know, concentration camp. Finkelstein, Chilowicz. He was good and not good. He saved Jews but anybody who take, who take a job--it's a commander--it's a Jewish commander from uh, that concentration camp-- Chilowicz --Finkelstein. He was a miserable creature. Jewish guy. Most miserable creature. I mean, he was bad. What he done, he--they shot him, they both. What he done it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's unbelievable how a Jewish people can, you know how can ever be so rotten, so corrupted to own, to own kind. I mean, you make favors. But, but non-favors was much, much hating than favors what you make. I was there, and I saw. When we came, this, this night, we supposed to march to Kraków-Płaszów. So I went in, I grabbed some bag. I don't know what was it. I figure we're going in, I want to take something, you know, something. I took some thing, like a baggage, I don't know what I carried there. So the Russian prisoners, they watched us. They couldn't speak, not a, not a single word German, just uh, Russian. They watched us. So when we came to that, to that Kraków-Płaszów, they took away from us everything. They just took away. They didn't care for us. So they gave us a barracks. And I remember that today. So the law at that time was not the law of this uh, they take, what he, what uh, uh, Göeth . The commander SS--he was a Sturmbannfürhrer Gestapo. When he--when you come into the barracks, everybody must stand attention. But we just came in. He probably asked for us, "Where are the Jews what I pick them up?" So when he came in, we didn't know. Everybody was tired. So this was his expression, "I forgive you this time, because I could shoot everybody out here. But today was a lot of Jewish blood spilled, so that's what I forgive you for this. But next time I come in, I want everybody attention. A lot of Jews was, was spilt today, and I'm happy for that. And I forgive you this time," in German.