Selma Rich - July 17, 1984
Stutthof
But when we came to Stutthof they divided us. The men went separate. Shlomo with his father, with two brothers went on one side, the mother with the little girl went in a different place and another sister went in another place. They divided us. They took us in they called this entlausung. Means to get washed in a place. They told us to take off everything from us. We did. We went in there. They looked us over from A to Z if we have hidden gold places. And then, no one was to wash nothing and they told us, go and grab clothes. We went out, we grabbed whatever we could, of course. But one thing, I had, my parents sent out a man to look if we are dead or alive for, when the first time they took us to the concentration, to the camp, and he found us. So she sent me a wedding ring in a tiny little piece of bread and inside was a few words written, maybe you will need for a piece of bread. Take it.
So your parents had sent a note from Vilno.
Yes.
And they, and this was when you went to the first concentration camp you were ever in, or in the Stutt...?
When they found out where I am, they sent a man and to every child he brought a little note. And they sent in a tiny little uh, from bread made, and in this was this ring. I still wear it. So this ring I put in, in a shoe, with, the shoes were thrown when they told us to, to go to, to wash ourselves. And uh, I, I took the shoes, the torn up shoes on account of this ring, because I could grab a better pair of shoes. And from over there they threw us in, in the barracks. We went in Stutthof in barracks. Everyday they, about six in the morning we had to stay in the line, they call this Appell. They count us if everybody's there. And it was terribly hot. It was August day.
How long did you stand in these Appells?
We, we stayed for hours and hours and hour without food, without water. Some people used to fall.
What happened to the people who fell?
Who fell? They went to the gas chamber. There were, there was a gas chamber. There was crematoriums in Stutthof.
And Stutthof was in Lithuania.
Stutthof? No, Stutthof was Germany.
Oh.
Stutthof is Germany.
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