Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Berek Rothenberg - May 20, 1984

So you can't find no justice. I couldn't believe it myself, when I was liberated, that when I come home to Poland--when I will see a Pole or a Jew a, a landsman, a cousin, we would carry each other, we will--what, what we went through, that's a impossible--is a impossible. If you would come over to me, you will see Berek. I will see you in 1949 in, in America, I will think that you--something happened something. It was a impossible that such a might--such a strict army. How could the German army be destroyed? It was impossible. I remember when I was liberated in Czechoslovakia--in Prague--and when I came up on the road to ??? civilian with a machine gun, he said, "Where you going? Robbing uh, our Czechs." "We're hungry." He said, "Lay down. Wait. You will see it." And it didn't take a half an hour. The whole German army came with no rifles--only we got an order to go home--Detroit to New York, and they marched without guards--didn't have no guards--and we got up from the ground--we were hiding on the roads--we got up. And the--those stripes, when they saw us, it's like Jewish T'chias Ha Meisim we, we resurrected. We got up and they went down. And honest to God, they have a right--I couldn't believe it that I could walk over to a German and, and touch him or grab him--his, his bread back or bread back or something. And right away we took off their bread back and we had a watch--they went after the jewelry. I just grabbed his bread back and I run to the camp and I open up and I saw a can of sardine a piece of butter and a piece of bread. I just helped myself and I put it on the pillow. I waited under the, under the straw back and I said, "I'm going again." I run over again, they're already gone. And when I come back those--to those people that couldn't move, they moved over to my bed they got everything that I got. When I come back I didn't get--I missed the Germans and I missed my food. You see, I was not satisfied with one time. Say, I want to ma...a...another turn.