The Virtual Historian

It was difficult to walk with our loose shoes in the deep mud. Sometimes we would sink into the mud and have to be pulled out. Of the thirty barracks, one was a latrine and one was an infirmary. Both stank and were full of misery. There were separate barracks for men and women. Children usually stayed with their mothers, but the older boys were put with fathers. In our barracks made of wood, there were three hundred of us, men and boys. Along the entire length of our barracks was a long chimney-like oven, perhaps one metre high and one metre wide. On both sides of the oven there were three-layered bunk beds, each for six people, two people per layer. Several times a day, for most of the day, we had to stand outside in rows of five, constantly being counted by the SS guards. Their faces were cruel and any movement during the counting was punished with a slap across the face or a kick. I remember a cruel SS officer named Buntrok, known to all as “Bulldog.” He kicked and slapped at random and carried a cane with which he used to hit us hard. Food was dished out once a day. At noon, a large barrel with hot soup was brought out. It was ladled out to each inmate into his one possession — a pot with a handle, known as an eschus.With the soup we were given a chunk of bread. In the evening, a barrel of warm, thin tea was brought out and ladled into the same pot. After that, we had free time and could meet with our friends and family. We were given tea again in the morning, but nothing further. On Sundays, the soup was thicker and was served with tasteless, yellow margarine and bread. I saw my mother once a day for fifteen minutes. She had tears in her eyes most of the time. Living in dirt with only a little water for washing made fleas a problem. All the doctors in the camp, including Father, became responsible for maintaining the hygiene in the camp.