Regina Cohen - April 18, 1982
Seeing Brother and Father in Camp
And...
That you're never sick.
...you're never sick. And uh, and you work and you may live. Otherwise you'll go up that chimney." For the first time you never complained about being sick. First three days--first morning I remember the men of that transport that we were brought in the day before was in the same camp, which was unusual because they never had men and women in the same camp. But they were on the odd side of the street and we were--the women were on the even. Um, I looked at all the women and all the girls around me, and an irony hit me uh, saying, "My God, I thought that those people were crazy and look, she looks odd, I wonder how I look?" And we had no mirrors. But the, the sun was shining and my reflection on the, o...on the street or what, from the sun, I could see a bald-headed little girl, you know. I looked pathetic. Uh, and all of a sudden, somebody from across the street, on the side where the men are, somebody was yelling--my nickname is ???. Uh, ???--and I looked up and there was a uh, young man in a striped uh, uniforms. And all of a sudden I see another man and another young fellow, it was my two brothers and my father. But I wouldn't recognize them because they all looked alike. But for some reason, he must have sensed or maybe he knew me well enough. And they yelled out--my father yelled out, "Go to a farm." I have never thought--but I couldn't figure out what are they talking about. Go to a farm? Well, they assumed that the women are going to be sorted out to be sent off to work. Later I realized what they--what he meant. On a farm I probably would have gotten food or nourishment. Um, all of a sudden they lock us all into the barracks and before we know it all of the men are taken away. Whenever any incident would happen, all of the people living in that specific camp would all be herded into the barracks and you'd have to go into your uh, a three-tiered bedroom set where about fourteen or fifteen women would sleep.
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