Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Natalie Zamczyk - January 30, 1984

Okay.

And uh, we uh, he rented a big house there, it was a beautiful home. And it was three apartments and we live in one apartment. No, we live upstairs, we live upstairs together with my sister-in-law and my fath...my brother-in-law and those two children. And my and my husband, each of us had a room and we had together kitchen and so forth. And mother-in-law was also with us. And downstairs was a little apartment so my father with uh, my mother and my sister moved there, you know. That's always my husband. He was a wonderful man. So uh, and we stay, we stayed there 'til 1941, because we have to go later to ghetto. Everybody have to go to ghetto. So that's what in 1941, there was our best time during the war, there outside the town. We're living like normal life, you know. Was wonderful, but didn't last long. Because later they, they give again the announcement, every Jew has to go in ghetto. So we got a, so we went and we got a place in ghetto. There was also a friend of our family, she had a big home there. And uh, we move to ghetto. And my parents move in a different part of ghetto, they had a different. And we were in ghetto, we were in ghetto, was, you know, after all this trouble, you know, what we, we felt like we came home. We are between ourself, you know. We didn't know what is going to happen because the ghettos all over, you know, was terrible thing. But we, we were living, you know, was from the beginning was very nice. I, I was the lucky one because I have a little room, so nobody was anymore coming that they didn't have more. But the bigger room, they always, after awhile somebody else move in the bigger room, and have to share more people, you know. Was very bad. But we still were living, you know. My husband was working outside the same store, our store, but, you know. So he was bringing some uh, groceries, you know, what he could buy outside, you know. And he was bringing all the time at home and he was giving to somebody else. And later was very bad in ghetto. There was lots of poor people what they didn't have food or nothing. My husband was, all week he was working and on Sunday in the morning he got up and was going from door to door to the richer people what can afford it and collect money and, for the people, with somebody else, you know. And I remember that we arrange a concert also there in some, for the pe-people in the ghetto. And my Morris, my Norman was six years old. He was playing, and uh, he was playing on accordion.

An accordion?

And then one harmonica. He was the attraction there. And they really did. Was so many people, you know.

Yeah.

And, and was beautiful. And we collect lots of money for the children, for the children, for the poor people, you know. That's what I remember.