Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Nathan Nothman - November 30, 1982

Rescued by the American Army

So we went in on the road and we went to a farmer and we asked them--wearing the uniform, "We like something to eat." So he tell us, "Jude?" I said, "Yes." Tell us to go in that--where they keep their cows. There was United States--we see that, that, that uh, tanks crawling on the road. So my friend said, "German." So he said, "Okay, we give you something but stay there." We couldn't stay there no more. We still didn't--we want to see the--we didn't want a fight. We didn't want to see nothing. We didn't know what's going on, we, we're out. And I went to that--on the road--Third Army throw cigars and chocolate and, and took us with the truck...

Mm-hm.

...with the truck, but it wasn't needed, we needed clean clothes. We needed sh...I mean, not shave, we needed to fix ourselves.

Mm-hm.

So they took us to--in Laufen, we thought maybe about four hour maybe. Took us to Laufen and changed the clothes and they, they took the--soaked the clothes in gasoline and burn it in like a closing, and shaved the head, something on our head so we would not uh, and there was a school. So the army was next to us. Captain--I forgot the captain--what is it--very nice gentleman. And they help us. They gave us everything what we needed. I mean, it was wonderful. They saved our lives. Because we were, we were healthy but we need somebody to help us because our skin was--the, the bugs what we have eat our skin. And we couldn't do nothing. And that was what--and when, when I lift my--when I took my shirt I saw everything is healing nice, beautiful. Like later on. It took me about three months, four months, everything was...


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