Adele Sandel - [n.d.]
Moving to Dobšina
So, we lived for--I, again, don't remember how many months we lived just the ten or twelve families. I don't even think there was any young yet left and if there was, you were scared to go, we were scared to go. We just really lived in fear all the time. All of a sudden, there came a law that the whole--that all these remaining Jews and, and the cities because there were about twenty cities--the country was divided south, east, west, you know, like here, so we were, I think, in the north part of the, of the--of Slovakia so that had to be Judenfrei. Here about two weeks had to--everybody had to leave. The few Jews in every city remained about ten, fifteen families who were very important people. But it wasn't good for them. I don't know from where they got those laws, but this law came out all of a sudden that even those few families had to leave the, the city.
Where did they have to go?
So, where should we go? So, you can't go to the south of Slovakia. So my father came in again and he had about a second or third cousin in one of the cities up there and he wrote to her that this is and this is the case we have to leave the city in two weeks and if we could come there--if she could, she could find us an apartment or whatever. So she wrote back--also the name of the city was Dobšina also a small city, also about ten, twelve families remained and...
So, his cousin was also a VIP?
Yes, something. Uh, also remain. So, she wrote of course, "Just come. You could even stay with us a few days 'til you find something," and that's the way it was. We packed up. They didn't let you take everything; just whatever they thought we should think--we should take. And, we packed up and we went and we came to that city. And we...
Why were--was the cousin a VIP? What kind of profession did he have?
He was in uh, you know like uh, there uh, like uh, I don't know. Like wheat, you know?
Like a farmer?
He wasn't a farmer but he was like a wholesaler... AK: Wholesaler, I see.
...of wheat and all that corn and all that stuff, you know.
Okay.
So, he stayed. So, we came to that city. It was a lovely little city and it was so funny that we even had a good time there, you know? We still didn't hear, after this man what he said, we didn't hear nothing came up from this Auschwitz. That was it what we heard. They all left and we all thought they are working there and then that craziness will be over with that Hitler business. They will all come back.
Huh.
So, we even had uh, good times there. We found new friends. I was the only girl there and I was such a big shot. There were a few boys left. There were a couple of medical students who got uh, uh, permission to stay, you know. So...
Didn't the uh, what this gentleman with the blond hair told you about Auschwitz...
Yeah?
...none of that uh, got to you at all? You didn't even give it consideration that this might be the case?
We were, yeah, we were always thinking about it and we were talking about it all the time, but after that we didn't hear nothing. Absolutely nothing. If we would hear something we would let the Hungarian Jews know that they should go and hide. You know, the Hungarian Jews were, were living. They were going to the opera in Budapest and to the concerts and they were uh, uh, living a life of ??? in '43 or forty...
[interruption in interview]...three years we were a ???
Okay.
Yeah.
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