Nathan Nothman - November 30, 1982
Work Detail in the Steinberg
I saw--I was working in a Steinberg where we drill holes in a cemetery. There was a Steinberg--there was in a cemetery. We drill a hole in the mountain and put a dynamite--we explode the mountains. And any time we explode the mountain Göeth 's after--after they exploded Göeth came in and gave us all, uh, when we explode it and damage his house, he was happy. If the rocks from explosion hit the--hit his house and broke the windows, he was happy. He gave us a bread, bread--extra bread. Deeper we went with that--with the trailers and put more, more stick of dynamite. So once I do remember, I had a good friend there--age maybe fifty, fifty-nine. So sixty women, sixty women--a big rope and uphill, there was a truck, and on the truck was--we loaded stones. And we--they supposed to ca...pu...uh, ca...I mean, to put rope pulling that three, four tunnel thing on the tracks all the way up. There was a Jewish policeman. Terrible guy, terrible guy. He uh, I forgot his name. So he said to me, "Okay I want to go away, I want you to watch the woman," I said, "What do I know about it?" "Watch them, you hold the bricks." So I supposed to, I supposed to stand on that uh, on the, on the thing uh, what you call it where they pulling that on ra...on the, on the track...
Yeah.
...and hold to my force. Because if they let go, I can stop that, like a bra...like a brakes. But I couldn't see it. I'm sitting on the top and they pull me. So I said, "Okay," I went to the rope and I start to pull it. So the Göeth come out, "??? Jude, You dirty Jew. You should not pull that thing, let them pull it." And hit me, and hit me and hit me, all the body over. I didn't say nothing. Take a gun and shoot me. "Let them pull it." So I already, I already know what's, what's going on, so I went and I told him--I said to the policeman, "You better come back quick because..." and I supposed to hold the brakes. So when they went uphill and I was supposed to go downhill maybe about a quarter of a mile and not to let it go.
Mm-hm.
So I said to the police, "Let's work together. I, I will be killed, you kill us. Hold the rope when I go down now. And I will go and hold it in." So we hold it, everything nice, really, we went to the end. They tip it, you know, like you would in coal mine that. And they went up the hill. And the policemen came, "What happened?" I said, "Don't you ever give me the job--I quit. Just don't you get my blood all over ???" And he got blood on his hand, because he hit his arm--clothes everything, you know.
© Board of Regents University of Michigan-Dearborn