Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Natalie Zamczyk - January 30, 1984

During the uprising when you were caught in Warsaw uh... Can you tell me something about what you did though? You said that you were working with some papers?

I didn't work, yeah, I was typing some papers, you see, like they were paper, writing paper and all this. They had some way to, to send them, I don't know how. And uh, also to the people giving papers out, you know, so they, so that's why I was typing. But I wasn't working steady. They gave me the work, but, you know, because she knew that I was so down, I was ??? the child, you know. But I was working a few times and later, you know, I had to move from one house to another because they were bombarding, you know. And...

Yeah.

...the bomb, the house was falling, you know, the people are uh, under the ground, you know. They were calling help, you couldn't get them out, you know. And we went farther and farther and farther, you know. That's what is. You, you couldn't stay there long, you know.

Yeah.

Yeah. And--oh God--the priest was staying the last weeks, the priest was staying there with us in the, and we were praying. Like before the death, you know.

Sure.

In Polish, so I pray with them together. I still remember the prayer. Yeah. It was terrible. It was the uprising was terrible, imagine what was the uprising, uh, Jewish uprising.

Sure.

I went once, special to Warsaw. I went special to Warsaw, and took a bus, or tram I remember... Around the ghetto to see, I saw this. I saw how they're having the sign, help us, help us, you know, because some Polish people were helping, you know, the army, but not too much, you know. They couldn't help them. Terrible. I was there. I remember. I wasn't inside, but I was around.

Yeah, yeah.

I was thinking myself, I am here, they are there. I don't know who's better off.

Yeah.

For me, every day, I had--I always say to my son and me, we have a death sentence in our pocket, death sentence in our pocket. You and me. We don't, we never know what times can happen. Yeah. My son was praying enough, kneeling in the church and praying. Enough. We are going to church. When I was in the ??? the first time, this was a small town. And I have to go to church with the child, you know.

Sure.

So we were going to church every week. When the holy day came, the, the eastern holy day you go to church to bless the, the food, I make a special thing for my son and he went with the children to bless the food. He couldn't be different than the other one. And imagine my terrible feelings when the doctor was, there was an old man doctor. So once in the beginning I went with children, so I dressed Morris nicely, you know, and we came from the church and she came to me and she said, my God, I didn't see your son, he was dressed funny, she said. It's, it's right away it shows that he comes from a elegant, fine family. She--he's different than other children.