Michael Opas - [n.d.]
Forced Labor at Ostrowiec
Why did you get sent to this new camp, any ideas?
Because the day Budzyn was, was liquidated. They were--they liquidated the camp. I don't actually know why. I think the Russians were nearing. They were both--they sent us off to different camps. I was in--some went to Radom, and I--my group went to Ostrowiec, it was a forced labor camp. Peo...they were most of the people from the, from the, from the ghetto, from Ostrowiec ghetto came to this camp. And they were, they were allowed to bring their stuff with them and uh, money. So that they, they had somehow managed to, to have restaurants even there, cook and buy things from that--from the out...from--because we went to work outside in the factories where Poles were working. So they some how exchange--I don't know why. I couldn't do nothing because I didn't have any money. But uh, food was fairly, fairly sufficient.
Did you gain any weight back?
Weight back? Yeah, yeah, really. Because I had--I met some friends there from my hometown who were already--who were there for a longer time and they were established already. They would help me out somehow. A piece of bread, a little extra soup. So, I gained a few pounds back. There I was four months. But from there I went to Auschwitz. This was the number I went through in Auschwitz.
© Board of Regents University of Michigan-Dearborn