Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

• Contents
• Map

Natalie Zamczyk - January 30, 1984

What happened when the war broke out?

Well, what, the war broke out. You want to have a special to tell you what the day war broke out. The day? The day what the war broke out, I got up in the morning and I went, took my maid and I went shopping uh, for, to the market because it was on Friday, I think. It was on Friday, I don't, yes, I think so. I know I have marked here something. So I went shopping with my maid, yeah. And later, on the market we saw that was something funny going on. The people was, the, the, the women was there selling the, the produce they were always hollering they wanted more money. This time they wanted only to sell, sell, sell to get out. So, and I met my sister-in-law, also there on the market. I said, what is it. She said, it's war and at once it's starting, flying, you know, the planes. But they were our planes. So we went home. And uh, later we heard--my store, our store has radio also, I told you before. And has not only radio, but all the things for radio. So my husband put a big uh, how you call this, was is playing on, outside ...

Yeah, like...

...the house. I forgot how you call this. What is spread the voice.

Uh, like a loudspeaker, yeah.

Loudspeaker, yeah. Put the loudspeaker on. And when we came home we heard already the news that war broke out, you know, that...yeah. But the Polish, the Polish general was talking there nothing to worry, because we are strong, German are weak. They haven't got nothing, and so forth, so forth.

Yeah.

You know...

Yeah.

...you know, brainwashing. Yeah.

Do you remember how you felt then, or what you...

Terrible.

Yeah.

Terrible. I felt terrible, I, I was very scared of war. And I felt terrible and I believed that the German are strong. I myself, I don't know why. Very bad. The same day when we went, when we went uh, you know uh, when we came from the market there was right away uh, uh, bombarding, you know. The people were all running in the basement, you know. And I went in the basement with my son right away this time. And that's what the war broke out, that's all, yeah. It's lots to tell, but I wouldn't be able to say everything.

No.

So a short, you know.

Uh-huh.

You want me, I can now, now you don't want it to ask me questions. I can tell you shortly what happened.