Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Abraham Pasternak - August 13, 1984

Food

What happened after Buchenwald?

Oh, I went to, that was uh, I went to...

I mean, after Schlieben?

After Schlieben, that's when, after Schlieben... I was there until the end. You know, would you believe it we become experts already, I mean, how to, how to put together a GieBerei, so I don't know how many of us were selected to go into Flossenbürg to open up another GieBerei because apparently, I don't know, the Panzerfaust may have been their magic weapon or something, I mean, for tank or something like that, that was a bazooka, this is what a Panzerfaust. I'd like to relay a, a story over here. I was in Oslo, Norway after the war and I went into the resistance museum, and I uh, walked into a certain particular section. I saw the Panzerfaust, I froze. Gerry says to me, "What happened?" I said to her uh, I said, "Gerry," I pointed like this and I was shaking, I says, "I made this. I made this." And I pointed to the missile. See, this is where I put in the sulfur in there. So, they took us to Flossenbürg to teach a new group of people how to work. And for the first time we got a big slice of wurst-this much-and, and, and, and a half a loaf of bread. For that alone it was worth it going. But, we were afraid while we were there for twelve hours, afraid that they were going to keep us there and that was really the pits. Nobody has gotten out of Flossenbürg. When they asked me what happen to Schlieben, I stayed there in Schlieben and we went through this tsuris, day in and day out. Every day there was something different. There were fights among ourselves, unfortunately, remember I mentioned to you, sinisclina, pettiness. The fight was for one only thing, food. And, there was one Jewish Kapo who I would say of all the Kapos that I have known, was the nicest person I've ever seen. He was a tall man from Lithuania or from Poland, I don't remember, but he deserves to be mentioned. He used to alert us when potatoes used to come into the, to the camp, and those who were lucky, you know, to steal some of it, he says, "I hope you got yourself big ones." And he looked aside. He deserves to be mentioned. He was the only one. There was another two Kapos over there-I would use the word, youmachshemum-they was screaming and yelling "Raus" and, and, and, and "Mach los" all the time. When you got out of the barracks and when you went into the barracks, they even told you... And when you go to, went to work and when you were marching. Two guys, the only guy of all the Kapos that I've known, I mean Jewish Kapos, that was the only decent guy who used to turn around and say, "I hope you got big ones."


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