Sonia Nothman - January 4, 1983
Transport to Bergen-Belsen/Berga
How long were you there? How long were you on the train?
Trains, they took us several times on trains. To Germany took us long because Poland itself is not big, you know. It's from Skarżysko, hours maybe, I don't know, hours. But from Chenstochowa to Germany took us very long. Gave us some bread and some beans, and days, days. I remember in Würtsburg, in Germany. The trains stop, they let us out. And the, the bombs fell over, all over. Oh, we prayed that they should...Oh, we didn't care to die, but...Days, days took us, because you couldn't go all the time. And then they let us out from the trains and we walked. In Germany. I cannot recall where it was. And I saw a silver place, but they didn't throw bombs. ??? We waved for them they should throw bombs. They didn't. It was already at--to the end, so.
How many people were in a train car were you?
Oh...How many? You couldn't move, tight. Not many could go. You couldn't sit, you couldn't, uh...
Were there any kind of sanitary facilities? Was there a bucket or anything?
Nothing. Nothing. We had to stop, I remember, in the forest at night. It's the same we have in Ber...when they brought us to Bergen-Belsen when they, with the trains. We had one room. A big room. And they let us st...stay. Late at night, during the day if you want to ??? if you could. Yeah, small space. Really small space. I wasn't too long. I was one month in Bergen-Belsen. There you couldn't stay long. People who came in got the worst of it. People who are already there for a long time, they know how to do it. Still, you could see you passed by in Bergen-Belsen you see mountains of shoes, mountains of clothes, mountains of...Oh, I went back after the war to Bergen-Belsen. I went back. Not that I want to, but my husband worked for Schmelling. They told him he's dead, so I went there. That's why I would never go back to Poland, never go back to Germany.
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