Jack Weinberger - February 6, 1983
Arrival in Auschwitz
What happened when they, when you got to Auschwitz?
Well, first of all when we got to Auschwitz I remember when the train came to a stop, must of lasted maybe fifteen or twenty minutes. All of a sudden the train got split in half, half but uh, how would I describe it ???. The train got split in half, half end up on this side.
Mm-hm.
See the whole thing ???, the train came around about a half came away.
Mm-hm.
The doors were opened up, up here, this side, the doors opened up here. Had like a sidewalk. We all came out from both sides. We came out walking this way, we came to a stop here. Here was uh, in a German uniform an officer, he had a big stick. He was waving the stick like this, you know, he was a big ???.
Mm-hm.
??? had dogs on, and uh, he was just pointing around the finger, like this, this, right or left, we didn't nothing about it. Actually the woman and children and the small children went to the right. And this, I and my father was taken together and uh, the children we were all boys, but the younger boys he pointed, but I was a little bigger he pointed his finger. We didn't know nothing about what's happening. You know, that's the last time we saw 'em.
How long were you in, in Auschwitz?
Auschwitz uh, a week maybe, I, not long. We weren't there for long, we ???. Well, we, they took us away to pass our way through Germany and Wolfsburg.
Did anyone have any idea, did your father have any idea in Auschwitz what was happening? Or what...
Well, we did know, I mean, we did, not for ourselves but we didn't believe it. They were the old timers who were actually working there, they were also uh, Haftling how do you call it uh, people...
???
Yeah. They were telling us you see the chimneys over there and you feel the smell, those are all your families being burned there. But, so, if you tell somebody, somebody like that, it's, you don't believe it.
Yeah.
You didn't know it. Of course, at the same time you were, every barrack was barbwire. The same thing across the street you see another house with barbwire. But you did see people, women and children, gypsies. They were playing music. Here you see gypsies, why would--they're alive. Why would they burn our family? You see, we--just something you couldn't believe it. We didn't know nothing.
Did you stay in a barracks there?
Yeah, but you know, just like an army barrack like ??? a week maybe in Auschwitz. You were put in by, I don't know, bout five thous... five thousand people to one barrack. I think three or four stack, I don't know, three or four high, six or eight in one layer. So crowded. I mean, can you imagine take people from their home, here yesterday we had family together here.
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