Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Nathan Weiselman - January 1, 1985

So, with this tools and having, uh, being hundreds of people over there, I really have a whole night's work. You know, of course it was not any benches to sit down or any beds, only on the floor, and having, so I worked all the time and we got, I would say, twice as much the, the ration of the food what was uh, permitted, what they gave us from the extra what I was doing, and we shared it. But the administration didn't like the-they looked in through the window and to the, where the camp was, was really big like, you know, like a church, it was still, you know, the outside, the architecture from the church and inside was still like a monastery and they looked in and saw me all the time, you guys, you have, you know, instruments. It was not allowed. And all that, having stuff like knives and needles and stuff like this. Anyway, they took me, they called me, took me out, and they punished me and they sent me...

What kind of punishment?

They took me, like a, in a old, in a cellar, very dark, and I was in for twenty-four hours. I was in that cellar uh, by myself and it was cold. And after they took me out and they sent me to another group that I wouldn't be in any more communi...communication with this friends that provided me and helped me because they saw that I am not the only one but they are the helpers. So I was in, in, in another place, but we got together with our friends in the Russian group. It was one Russian ??? from this building to another building, from this side to another, it was divided...

???

And, yeah, because they help. They divided the barriers like it was inside like a big church.

What kind of clothes did you uh, have?

Clothing? I didn't have any clothing. I came over with the t-shirts and a pair of shorts, so when, when we went like to go out from the roof, it's Lemberg, to the, to the uh, to that camp, we didn't walk to that uh, Starobielsk where it was the monastery. I didn't have any clothing and it was already winter. So what they did, they gave me a ladies' coat with fur, with a baby collar, you know, here, in here in the front, in the center, fur. You know.

Hair?

Hair, it was kind of hair, expensive hair.

Oh, fur.

Fur.

Yeah,??? NW:???, we call in Polish ???. And it was in here, all the, all the finish of the???.

Yeah.

And over here, was one of the best ??? and so whenever we went out of course for work in the courtyard and I put, put this on ??? and I look like a girl. What I can do?

What about, what did you do for pants?

??? made fun of. Pants I had, yeah. But I, pants they gave me.

And shoes?

But they didn't have-shoes, mine, my torn shoes, what I have, after they gave, somebody, they find me another shoe. I, I lost my left shoe, find me the right. So I got one shoe, another style is the other, didn't, was another color, it didn't bother me. But, ??? that little coat, coat, what they, what I did wear, I could say saved me from starvation.