Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Marvin Kozlowski - August 28, 2002

Conclusion

We were in the barracks and as I say, you wake up, the other guy in the barracks dead, you know. How...

Wife: I came to Bergen-Belsen. I saw people eating corpses when they brought us in.

You did?

Wife: On the field.

Death march after the...

Wife: No, not that march. No, I came early to Bergen-Belsen.

Early...

Wife: They took us from Auschwitz to Bergen-Belsen. New Year's, New Year's night. The 31st of December they put us into the cars to Bergen-Belsen and we got there the first of January, New Year's '45, '45 I came there and I was liberated there.

Okay, at Belsen.

Wife: And I was lucky I don't have 'em, three sisters, we all--we were never separated in all the camps, in all the--but I lost them within the last eight years. Four of them were younger than me. We all--we were never separated in the camps.

And they survived the war.

Wife: Yeah. There were here until--one died five years ago.

It's a funny thing, nobody ever worried about, too much about the future. All, how can, how can you have a piece of bread or something to eat. Naturally, once in a great while I hope we survive at least a day. After the German, the German fall, German, uh...

Wife: Fall, fall.

Fall, whatever it is, yeah.

You were liberated by the Americans.

Yes.

And were there any Germans around?

Seventh Army, I think. Pardon?

Were there any Germans--prisoners of war or SS men who were taken prisoner that you remember?

Well, they were--I...

Wife: No, no, there were just Jews by you, right?

Where? By our place? Oh no.

When you went into the German towns...

Yeah.

after the war.

Yeah.

What did you feel like? What did you want to do to them? Anything?

What do you mean?

Wife: Kill 'em.

Kill 'em. We hope that we can get a hold of the people that did the criminal acts. But most of 'em uh, settled in countries you cannot touch them.

Wife: But the people you came in touch with...

If you had a gun would you have shot anybody?

No.

No? Good.

It wouldn't made sense. ??? leaders, but they ended up in South American countries, in the--in Arab countries, Syria. Everywhere. They ended up, you cannot touch 'em. And somebody out in the eighties, some ??? changed names.

Anything else you want to add to this?

I hope...

Wife: Not what you said. That you don't believe.

I hope, I hope the world learns something--would never let a tragedy like this happen to any people.

Wife: That's why they have to know what you went through, right? What we went through correct?

That's a good place to end. Thank you.


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