06. FINAL DESTINATION: A CONCENTRATION CAMP. AN UNFORGETTABLE TRIP.

 My Dad’s narrative continued:

“After they arrested so many people, they then didn’t know what to do with us. There was actually no place set up where they would keep us.  We were put on a soccer field that night, and the next day they took us to the train station.  The whole town was on the streets looking at us, yelling and cursing and throwing rocks at us as we went by.  We were probably 600 people all together.  The crowd was mad at the Germans, and they thought we were all Germans too.  When we reached the train station, still early in the morning, we were pushed into a type of train wagon used for transportation of cattle.  It was a very hot Summer and inside those cars it was very hot because the ventilation was poor.  It was a horrible trip.  We didn’t know where they were taking us to and what would happen to us.  The human life conditions at that moment were deplorable and tough.  It was indeed a horrible trip.  I still had some food that my wife gave me when I left, but thirst was the main problem because there was absolutely no water available. 

When the train stopped at a certain station, we asked for water.  The soldiers said that they would give us water but there were no glasses that we could use.  Those of us who had a glass or bottle would get some water, but after that the glasses were taken from us and we could hear them being broken as they were thrown on the rails.  There was a Czech with us, Mr. Nedlich, who had also been taken as being German along with us.  He was probably in his mid 60s and was feeling sick, so when we reached the next station we asked the soldiers for some water.  They brought a bottle supposedly with water, but it was actually urine.  The soldiers were very mean to us.  If the prisoners in a certain wagon started to complain or to yell too much, the soldiers would just shoot several bullets randomly into that wagon. 

Only later on, when we arrived at our destination in France, we realized that on the train wagons it was written, “German Parachutists” .  This is why wherever the train was passing people on the streets were always cursing and throwing rocks at the train. 

After two days and three nights traveling in those subhuman conditions, and being already in France, the soldiers brought some buckets of water and told us to drink it.  But, how could we drink it without glasses?  They broke all our glasses on the first day of the trip.  Then some of us tried to drink using our hands, but the soldiers would not allow us to do that, saying that doing it would contaminate the water and the others would not be able to drink clean, pure water.  So we stood there looking at that water but nobody could drink it.  After a while the soldiers asked, “So nobody is thirsty, nobody wants to drink anymore?” But nobody could!  So they just poured the water on the floor and left.  We could feel the water running away from us.  What a thirst it was! 

We finally arrived at the final destination, at Le Vigan, in southern France.  As we were leaving the train one man fell down on the ground and would not move. The soldiers started beating him and  stabbing  him with their bayonets but he would not move at all. Actually he was already dead. He was killed, gunned down in the train in one of those instances when prisoners were asking for water and the soldiers had shot against the train.  

We were then taken to a certain place where other prisoners were already waiting, and there was a total of approximately five thousand people. There were several big warehouses prepared for prisoners at that place. The soldiers brought a big container of water but almost nobody actually could drink because of the commotion and confusion in the crowd. After a few minutes came a French official yelling, “stop drinking the water, stop drinking the water, the water is contaminated”   We spent the night at that place, but in the middle of the night one of the people in our building started yelling, “I want my dog, where is my dog?”  Which after a while triggered the soldiers’ anger and they beat him up very badly, until he finally stopped. He probably was mentally ill, because after a while he started doing the same thing. Again, he was beaten up. After a couple of times more, he was finally taken out of the camp and we didn’t see him until a long time after that. 

The next morning we finally were given some water and were told that we would get something to eat for lunch. That would be the first meal after three days. Some of us found a few old, empty cans and because there were no plates for the food, we cleaned those cans with sand so that we could use them to eat. When we finished cleaning them suddenly a physician was passing by and asked us what they were for. When we told him he said that the cans could not be used, because they were not appropriate for human food. He took the cans and destroyed them. Later on the food was brought, but since we didn’t have any plates or other containers for the food, the soldiers took the remaining old, still dirty cans that they could find and served us the food in them. 

In my case, when I left home my wife gave me some food and a loaf of bread. After those three days I still had a piece of bread and some food left. Close to me was a Jew who had nothing to eat and was very hungry, so I shared my food with him. Later on, when we went to the concentration camp, that man told the officers in charge that he had worked in Germany as a cook, so he was sent to work in the kitchen. And because I had shared my food with him now he was being kind and generous to me and I always could get a little more food than the regular portion given to each person. Actually my first meal was fantastic, although we had only one dish, a type of big beans. I got my portion, ate it fast, and my friend gave me another portion. I ate it again, and here he was giving me another portion. It seemed that the lights of a dark world were being turned on again. 

Unfortunately, that food we were given that first day made me sick at night. I had to ask the guards to help me, so one of them took me to the place they had prepared for occasions like that. It was not a fancy restroom, I guarantee. But I can’t forget how I felt better after that. It was a full Moon, and the night was very beautiful.

Later on we were transferred to another camp, where we stayed for about three weeks. Every once in a while we were moved to a different place, and we were treated as prisoners. In my case, just because Germany had invaded my country. The conditions were really bad, with almost no food all the time. 

One day we were told that we had to leave the building we were at, and a group of soldiers came to pick up (actually confiscate) all our belongings. One of my friends asked me what to do, because he had 6,000 Francs and was afraid that they could take the money from him. My idea was that we should make a hole in the ground and keep the money hidden there. I made sure to learn exactly where we were, because it would be difficult to find the site in such an open field

After the soldiers cleaned up the building, they sent us back into it, and then they went to check the place where we had been, in the field, looking for objects that could probably be hidden there - like the man’s money. But we were fortunate because the next day I went back to the site where the money was hidden and sure enough, it was still there. The man wanted to give me half of the money, but I refused. I didn’t want to take his money. But he finally gave me a thousand francs anyway. That money was my only possession that day. Nothing else was left. Everything was taken away from me. I had only one pair of pants, one shirt, and one coat. All were old. This was all I had, besides being a prisoner. My shoes were destroyed in two weeks, due to the hard conditions of the terrein where we were kept. 

At that time we had no idea of what the days ahead would be like,what would happen to us, or if we would even survive. But this will be told in the next segment.”

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