Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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

And what was your friend's name?

Um, my best friend was a girl. Her name was uh, Toos, Toezia. Well, I called her Toezia, because everywhere she was very little nervous too.

Now, how, how would you spell it?

Well, her name was Toos, T-o-o-s...

Hm.

but everybody said, before the war, Toezia--she doesn't like that name, Toezia--we always say Toos. Because it was maybe a little nickname for a little girl or something.

And would you eat at her house?

Yes.

You would?

But not uh, for uh, not meat and these things.

I see.

I was eating uh, bread with sugar and a little bit butter, white bread. And...

So...

because we were playing house. They had...

I see.

on--in the attic, they had from hams such very big, empty um, containers to put in the windows. And we, we made a whole house from that.

Oh.

And we put a plate over it and then we went downstairs, because um, both the parents were working. And there uh, a, a girl for the household...

Uh-huh.

and uh, she looked after the children, sure too and we said, "Can which have a slice of bread?" So we got white bread. I'll never forget it, because I never got it at home. And I liked it very much. It was white bread with butter and a little bit sugar. And with Pesach--when it was Pesach, my mother always said, "You may not eat anything when you play with Toos. Everything they give you, you say, it's Pesach, you may not eat it. So don't eat it."

And...

So I came there and once I had a little sweet um, not chocolate but uh, um, a sweet thing what you can eat. And I took one. I forgot in my playing that it was Pesach. And I came home and I felt very terrible, but I told, I told my mother. And my mother was angry. She said, "I told you, don't eat it ."

And you were how old then?

Maybe five or six years.

And did, did uh, Toos eat at your house as well?

Yes.

She did.

Yes.

???.

I remember we had like this here, the--a fence...

Uh-huh.

from the garden to where uh, it was in the back of the house, where you can walk and there are--you can go in the back of other gardens or houses. And there was a fence. And her brothers always uh, took her that she could look over the fence. And I saw the little hands.

Hm.

And she said, "Miriam, Miriam, are you home?" We were very happy uh, playing always together.