Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Miriam Troostwyk - May 28, 1998 and June 3, 1999

Hm.

And um, there were two classes. There was uh, a lady, she was a teacher um, a Jewish lady. And she gave for the first three grades, children from six, seven and eight years, in one room, lessons. The second class was the fourth, fifth and sixth, so we were with all together Jewish children and we uh, got lesson from uh, a man. Mr. Spiegel was his name. He came from Groningen that's up here somewhere and he gave lessons in Amersfoort. But, then the Razzia started. And then this child wasn't there and this child wasn't there and--or sometimes I wasn't there, it was in certain parts or they got to fill in form...formulas to go to uh, to camp.

Now...

Westerbork or to Vught.

You said you--sometimes you weren't there?

Yeah.

What, what, you would stay home...

Home.

because you heard that there was going to be a Razzia?

Yeah.

So you--your parents kept you home?

Yeah. Or they said there is no school today or something, because there were a lot of children, they had to go to camp. And there was a bus and I went to that bus because I was always looking after a little boy I liked very much with curly hair and dark eyes and he looked so lovely. And he was very scared. And, and he went with his uh, family in that bus and I knew he was going to Westerbork or to Vught.

You knew the names of the camps, even the names?

Yes. Westerbork...

You knew Westerbork...

and Vught.

And, and, and what did know about them? They were labor camps.

Yeah.

How did you find out that?

I heard it from my family.

And did people come back from those camps?

Uh, some people came back in Amersfoort and some didn't come back. But I didn't know all the children and I can't remember all the children, because we didn't go every day to school. Every day there was something else. It was between '42 and '43, so all the Jews went away. And we had a stamp, so we were free of going away, because my uh, brother-in-law was working for the Germans. He made um, fur for inside in the coats...

Huh.

to when they were fighting in uh, Russia, Stalingrad, Smolensk, Kiev and all the fighting.