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There is one thing that surprises me
surprises the whole world
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why did the germans recruit so many people
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trains, trucks and energy
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to exterminate the Jews in the last days of the war?
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If they stopped it in six months
until the end of the war and directed this energy
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for your own strengthening,
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they could have lasted longer.
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But the killing of Jews was for them
much more important
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than even winning a war.
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In World War II,
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when Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany
conquered nation after nation,
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European Jews were deprived of their rights,
were driven to the ghetto
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deported to concentration camps and killed.
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Even in 1944, when it became obvious that
that Germany will lose the war
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Hitler and his supporters did not stop
the extermination of the Jews.
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His troops persistently destroyed
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remains of the largest Jewish community in Europe
community - the Jews of Hungary.
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This is a story about life
five Hungarian Jews
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during the last year of this war.
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I grew up in a city called Polyana,
in the Carpathian Mountains.
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It was a town with two
the main streets.
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This road leads there.
There is a church there.
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We had a post office, a town hall,
church and synagogue.
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Everyone knew each other.
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It was great there.
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I lived in a city called Uzhhorod.
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It was a small town
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however, it seemed that it was
a large, international city.
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There was a small deli there,
here around the corner, right here.
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God we used to come here
to have sandwiches for lunch.
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We lived in a town called Sharvar.
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It is located in Hungary,
closer to the border with Austria.
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Every day the peasants were brought here
their goods from all neighboring villages
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in large baskets,
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which they endured
on the head or shoulders.
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Sasovo was a very small community,
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which consisted of 3,000 people.
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No electricity, no amenities.
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Therefore, I had a very simple
boring life Nothing special.
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But then I got to Budapest,
where there was a completely different life.
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Those were huge changes.
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And I looked at this city and felt: "Wow!"
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That is, I did not even imagine
that such a thing can exist!
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Budapest was an incredible city
world class
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on par with Vienna, Paris or London,
it was a great European capital.
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This amazing parliament building
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saw the best and worst pages
of Hungarian history.
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Most Jews in Budapest
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were completely assimilated,
very patriotic
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and incredibly proud of theirs
Hungarian cultural heritage.
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In our city it was approx
800 Jewish families,
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and also, I think, there was somewhere
10,000 or 11,000 Gentiles.
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I had non-Jewish friends.
I went on dates with non-Jews.
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My parents had non-Jewish friends.
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But at the same time
we felt like Hungarians.
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Not only Jews.
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Yes, Judaism was our religion,
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but we were Hungarians.
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On August 2, 1934, officers and
men swore allegiance
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not only to Germany, but to Hitler personally.
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When did Hitler rule over Germany
became absolute,
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he promised worried neighboring Austria
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don't touch her.
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In 1938, when I was ten years old,
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I bought my first newspaper
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and saw the headlines in it:
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"Hitler enters Austria".
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And I felt that this historical moment
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will have a huge impact on life
Hungarian Jews, my family and mine.
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Germany invaded Poland and Danzig.
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Warsaw was bombed, destroyed
and devastated.
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Poland in ruins.
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POLAND IS OCCUPIED
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Refugees arrived in Hungary,
fleeing Poland
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and most local Jews on Friday
in the evening they came to the temple,
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to take these people in
and shelter
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They came and told stories.
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And I remember that very often
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we did not believe them.
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I heard a conversation between my father
and another man
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as he told his father
what the Nazis did in Poland.
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And one thing from this conversation
i will never forget
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He said that the Nazis were taking
Jewish babies
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and then they were torn in half by the legs
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and threw to the Dniester, a river in Ukraine.
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later of course
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these stories kept getting worse
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and we began to hear of mass murders
and burial.
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But then it was naive
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don't want to use that word
but will have to
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patriotic feeling that we Hungarians
we don't do that.
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Hitler was in Germany, so what
was there did not apply to us.
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That is, we were so far from them.
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GERMANY
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THE NETHERLANDS - 1940
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BELGIUM - 1940
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Two wars were fought then.
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There was a military war,
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and side by side with this war
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the second war was going on
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the SS war was directed against the Jews.
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LITHUANIA - 1941
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POLAND - 1942
WARSAW GHETTO
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LATVIA - 1942
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LUBAWKA, POLAND - 1943
EXECUTION OF THE JEWS
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The dark side of Hungarian
national character
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became more and more obvious.
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Persecution of the Jews
became more and more obvious.
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Jews were losing their jobs,
their business.
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There was a Hungarian Nazi movement
"Crossed Arrows"
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and they became of course
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the most hated and terrible group
for Hungarian Jews.
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People were surprised:
"Why didn't we do anything?"
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We didn't run away. They did not hide.
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Well, everything did not happen at once.
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Everything happened very slowly,
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so every time he appeared
new law or restriction,
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we said, “Well, it's just one more thing.
Over time, everything will be fine."
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Hitler occupied Hungary
March 19, 1944.
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I was 16 years old then.
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March 19, 1944.
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The Germans entered, the SS entered, our city.
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Two motorcycles - that's all Nazi
the regime that occupied our city,
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because their supporters already lived among us
and did their dirty work for them.
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Most of them were people like us
considered friends all these years,
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but suddenly they turned against us
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and moved to the other side.
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And the next limitation was that
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that you were not allowed to walk on the street
without a yellow star.
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We heard that in Germany people
who wore a yellow star
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just disappeared later,
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and it was the same in Poland.
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So then we started to worry.
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I did not wear the yellow star
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and I was caught.
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I was thrown into a forced labor camp,
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which was in the north of Budapest
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nearby with an important railway bridge.
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And that was our job
restoration of this railway,
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its tracks, bridges, ceaselessly,
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while British and American troops
bombed us day and night.
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We were worried that we might die.
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But we also hoped
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that American and British
bombers will hit all targets
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and destroy this bridge,
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because that's how they would defeat Hitler.
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I escaped from that labor camp
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and joined the Hungarian underground.
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And the next decree was
an order to collect 25 kilograms of things.
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At first we did not understand. What to take?
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Think of your home, your own home.
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What would you choose among these 25 kilos?
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What is 25 kilograms?
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How much is 25 kilograms?
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Will you bring pillows? Covered?
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Will you take your plates? Take...
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What will you take?
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when we were going
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I wanted to take something that would remind me
about the good times.
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I was very upset and excited.
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That's why I put on a swimsuit underneath
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a swimsuit that my father gave me.
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I didn't want to do it.
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Once my father came from
one of his business trips
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about three years before that.
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And he always brought us something
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me and my sister
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And,
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of course we always asked:
"What did you bring?"
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and he opened his chest
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and got this beautiful swimsuit from her.
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It had a shiny satin finish
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and a picture in the form of colorful flowers.
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And that day when I heard a thump
soldier's boots on our stairs,
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I ran back and put on this swimsuit
under clothes
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And so I left.
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They broke down the front door. Went in.
We were given a few minutes.
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They said half an hour
but it wasn't half an hour
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to collect all our valuables
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and then they kicked us out of our house.
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I couldn't even imagine
that someone will evict people from their homes,
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because they are Jews.
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Our so-called friends and neighbors
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they stood in rows along the road
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and shouted:
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“Just in time, get out of here.
We don't need Jews in our city.
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We have to get rid of all the Jews."
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I stood and could not believe my eyes.
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Those were the people I went to school with,
their children, we were friends.
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We had things in common.
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Why are they so hostile? Why are they suddenly?
did you hate us?
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This is similar to the description of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt.
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We carried all our luggage.
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Pillows and bedspreads are twisted and
attached to them.
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And we, the children, also helped to carry it.
I was so ashamed.
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We wanted to believe that they would take us
to Germany and simply forced to work.
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We wanted to believe it.
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00:14:45,968 --> 00:14:52,641
Until then, all European Jews
were already in the camps
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we didn't know that.
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00:14:54,727 --> 00:14:57,730
Concentration, ghettoization and deportation
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took place in an accelerated manner
during 12 weeks
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00:15:04,028 --> 00:15:10,492
and nowhere else is this deportation program
was not conducted
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with such barbaric savagery and speed,
as it was in Hungary.
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We were told that they would take us to the ghetto,
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and we have never heard this word before.
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This is not a Hungarian word - "ghetto".
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We had no idea where we were.
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That morning when we woke up
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I realized that we are in a brickyard.
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There is a brickyard in the yard.
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00:15:38,729 --> 00:15:42,107
And it rained in April. It rained a lot.
212
00:15:42,191 --> 00:15:43,984
And we were always...
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We had to change the sheets.
It was our roof.
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00:15:47,196 --> 00:15:49,031
And we were always wet.
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There were thousands of people
for they were driven from the whole country.
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00:15:54,536 --> 00:15:57,456
And everywhere there was a guard with dogs,
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00:15:57,539 --> 00:16:00,709
they were constantly walking
with large German shepherds
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00:16:00,793 --> 00:16:03,837
on very short leashes.
219
00:16:03,921 --> 00:16:08,092
...because here there were shacks at every step
and people everywhere.
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- Do you know where your shack was?
-Yes.
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00:16:10,594 --> 00:16:14,056
My shack was here
where are those piles of bricks now.
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00:16:15,349 --> 00:16:17,184
And one day we were told
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00:16:17,267 --> 00:16:21,188
that anyone who wants to go
work in Tokai,
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00:16:21,271 --> 00:16:24,566
to the distillery, must come here
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00:16:24,650 --> 00:16:29,530
and everyone willingly, with joy went on that train,
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00:16:29,613 --> 00:16:31,198
because it was hell here.
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00:16:31,782 --> 00:16:35,703
And to go to work at the laundry room
it was like entering heaven.
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00:16:35,786 --> 00:16:40,541
We were driven to the railway
Hungarian soldiers.
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00:16:40,624 --> 00:16:42,167
My mother told me:
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00:16:42,251 --> 00:16:47,006
"I wrapped diamonds in your skirt,
to the stripe of the skirt.
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And if you have nothing to eat,
buy bread for them."
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00:16:52,886 --> 00:16:54,930
When we arrived at the station,
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00:16:55,014 --> 00:16:59,727
we realized that we will not go
in passenger cars.
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00:16:59,810 --> 00:17:02,396
Livestock wagons were waiting for us.
235
00:17:02,479 --> 00:17:06,400
My father said, “They ran out of others
wagons, because the war is going on.
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00:17:06,483 --> 00:17:09,987
They have no others. They have to
use what's there."
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00:17:10,070 --> 00:17:14,033
Everyone who did not walk and did not walk quickly was beaten.
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00:17:14,116 --> 00:17:17,953
When they closed the door,
I heard a rattle from outside
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00:17:18,037 --> 00:17:20,205
as if the bolt had closed there.
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It was already abnormal.
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00:17:23,083 --> 00:17:26,253
I didn't believe
that they had no other wagons.
242
00:17:30,215 --> 00:17:34,344
Things were getting worse in Budapest at that time.
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00:17:34,428 --> 00:17:38,348
I really had to get it
non-Jewish documents.
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00:17:38,432 --> 00:17:40,476
I did not exist as a Jew.
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00:17:41,226 --> 00:17:43,645
I could have been shot. They could kill.
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00:17:43,729 --> 00:17:50,360
You were hunted like an animal
24 hours a day, every day,
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00:17:51,111 --> 00:17:53,864
and you didn't know if the people you met
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00:17:53,947 --> 00:17:56,116
were actually on your side.
249
00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:58,118
If not for Wallenberg,
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00:17:58,202 --> 00:18:03,791
neither I nor the other tens of thousands
would never survive.
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00:18:03,874 --> 00:18:08,087
Raoul Wallenberg arrived when all of Hungary,
252
00:18:08,170 --> 00:18:11,799
excluding Budapest,
was freed from Jews.
253
00:18:12,466 --> 00:18:16,136
He came to Budapest at the time
when on the outskirts
254
00:18:16,220 --> 00:18:19,681
the Jews had already been herded into the cattle cars
255
00:18:19,765 --> 00:18:21,683
and sent away from Hungary.
256
00:18:21,767 --> 00:18:25,270
And he decided to join
to the Swedish Embassy there
257
00:18:25,354 --> 00:18:28,816
with one goal -
to try to save Jewish lives.
258
00:18:29,942 --> 00:18:33,403
Issuing the so-called
Swedish "security passports",
259
00:18:33,487 --> 00:18:36,615
he proclaimed that every
who has this document
260
00:18:36,698 --> 00:18:39,535
after the end of the war
will return to Sweden.
261
00:18:39,618 --> 00:18:44,915
It was a complete fiction, but in chaos
and messy wars
262
00:18:44,998 --> 00:18:49,378
this one is amazing, priceless
a piece of paper worked.
263
00:18:49,461 --> 00:18:53,423
Several of us were
spreaders or runners,
264
00:18:53,507 --> 00:18:56,969
that delivered these fake passports
265
00:18:57,052 --> 00:18:59,847
to people who were waiting in "safe houses".
266
00:19:00,514 --> 00:19:04,059
Wallenberg rented large
residential buildings,
267
00:19:04,143 --> 00:19:09,356
stuck the Swedish sign on them,
which indicated that all residents
268
00:19:09,439 --> 00:19:12,818
were under Swedish protection
royal government.
269
00:19:12,901 --> 00:19:17,364
I lived on the street
St. Stephen's Park, house 25.
270
00:19:20,617 --> 00:19:25,122
Most of these houses were residential
houses for the upper middle class
271
00:19:25,205 --> 00:19:27,457
with three-room apartments,
272
00:19:27,541 --> 00:19:32,921
where four, five or six could live
man before this crisis
273
00:19:33,005 --> 00:19:35,382
but suddenly they became shacks
274
00:19:35,465 --> 00:19:40,971
for 60-70 men who were crowding
in these three rooms.
275
00:19:41,054 --> 00:19:42,598
Very inconvenient.
276
00:19:42,681 --> 00:19:44,641
That was very awkward, dear.
277
00:19:44,725 --> 00:19:47,728
but more importantly
incredibly dangerous.
278
00:19:47,811 --> 00:19:51,190
The phrase "protected house"
was obviously wrong
279
00:19:52,482 --> 00:19:57,487
for many people who lived in these
"protected houses",
280
00:19:57,571 --> 00:20:01,783
detained, taken to the Danube coast
and killed.
281
00:20:05,329 --> 00:20:11,627
So get to these sheltered homes
it was not difficult.
282
00:20:11,710 --> 00:20:13,462
The soldiers did not care.
283
00:20:13,545 --> 00:20:16,048
They were near the facade and said:
"Come in."
284
00:20:16,131 --> 00:20:17,674
And now go out
285
00:20:18,592 --> 00:20:20,594
that's what was really hard.
286
00:20:20,677 --> 00:20:27,351
If German soldiers or Hungarian
the nazi soldiers suspected something
287
00:20:27,893 --> 00:20:30,520
they ordered us to take off our pants
288
00:20:30,604 --> 00:20:34,566
because we were one people
who performed circumcision.
289
00:20:35,108 --> 00:20:39,279
One day when my body was hanged
fake passports,
290
00:20:39,363 --> 00:20:43,033
that I delivered to these people
so they can leave their homes
291
00:20:43,116 --> 00:20:45,327
i miscalculated
292
00:20:45,410 --> 00:20:49,498
I went down the drain.
I knew when to get out.
293
00:20:49,581 --> 00:20:51,458
And I made a mistake.
294
00:20:51,541 --> 00:20:55,587
Instead of going out in the middle of the house,
295
00:20:55,671 --> 00:20:57,881
I came out at his front
296
00:20:57,965 --> 00:21:01,260
where two soldiers guarded the house.
297
00:21:01,343 --> 00:21:03,845
I started running as fast as I could
298
00:21:03,929 --> 00:21:06,014
crossing the street
299
00:21:06,098 --> 00:21:08,225
They actually deported a group of Jews.
300
00:21:08,308 --> 00:21:10,560
Not knowing where they are being taken,
301
00:21:10,644 --> 00:21:14,106
I jumped into this group and thought:
302
00:21:14,189 --> 00:21:18,360
"I have been in trouble many times.
Then I will go through another mess.
303
00:21:18,443 --> 00:21:19,945
I'll just run away again."
304
00:21:20,028 --> 00:21:22,864
We arrived in five days
to Buchenwald.
305
00:21:27,703 --> 00:21:30,247
We traveled by train for about five days.
306
00:21:30,330 --> 00:21:33,750
Sitting on a pile of luggage,
which we brought there.
307
00:21:33,834 --> 00:21:37,796
In the cattle car I was in
there were approximately 120 people.
308
00:21:37,879 --> 00:21:41,466
Huddled together like sprats
in incredible heat.
309
00:21:41,550 --> 00:21:45,262
There was one bucket, you see
instead of a toilet.
310
00:21:45,345 --> 00:21:49,933
And suddenly this bucket was filled to the brim,
the stench was unbearable then.
311
00:21:50,017 --> 00:21:53,228
They never opened the door
to go to the restroom.
312
00:21:53,312 --> 00:21:56,690
We were never given water or food.
313
00:21:56,773 --> 00:21:59,192
The children were screaming because they wanted to go home.
314
00:21:59,276 --> 00:22:02,195
"Where are they taking us?"
315
00:22:02,696 --> 00:22:03,739
No one said.
316
00:22:03,822 --> 00:22:06,283
It was completely dark there.
317
00:22:06,366 --> 00:22:11,079
The light shone only through
cracks in the cattle car.
318
00:22:11,163 --> 00:22:14,291
My father found it
a crack in a cattle car.
319
00:22:14,374 --> 00:22:16,501
He looked at her and said aloud:
320
00:22:16,585 --> 00:22:19,588
"I don't think that they are taking us to the prison,
321
00:22:19,671 --> 00:22:23,675
because we just crossed the border
and we are heading to Poland."
322
00:22:24,343 --> 00:22:25,594
When he said "Poland"
323
00:22:25,677 --> 00:22:29,056
i remembered the man
what he said about Jewish babies
324
00:22:29,139 --> 00:22:31,350
and what they did with them.
325
00:22:32,059 --> 00:22:35,937
I held my younger brother.
He was two and a half years old.
326
00:22:36,021 --> 00:22:37,481
She held him so tightly.
327
00:22:38,273 --> 00:22:40,901
And I told him, I said to myself:
328
00:22:40,984 --> 00:22:44,488
"I will never let him go.
They will never take it away."
329
00:22:44,571 --> 00:22:46,907
When they opened the door,
330
00:22:48,325 --> 00:22:50,786
the light suddenly blinded you.
331
00:22:52,329 --> 00:22:55,874
And because your eyes were closed
four or five days
332
00:22:55,957 --> 00:22:57,959
or already used to that darkness,
333
00:22:58,043 --> 00:22:59,795
you were becoming almost blind.
334
00:22:59,878 --> 00:23:02,881
we were so happy
that went out into the fresh air.
335
00:23:02,964 --> 00:23:06,510
We got out of the cars,
walked into the wind like normal people
336
00:23:06,593 --> 00:23:08,678
drank water and maybe ate a little.
337
00:23:08,762 --> 00:23:13,392
And everyone asked:
"Where are we? What is the name of this place?"
338
00:23:13,475 --> 00:23:15,268
And that was a very strange name.
339
00:23:16,436 --> 00:23:17,396
Auschwitz.
340
00:23:28,031 --> 00:23:30,325
We were stopped here.
341
00:23:30,409 --> 00:23:33,120
The selection took place here.
342
00:23:33,203 --> 00:23:36,331
- You are all lined up in a row...
- Thousands of people
343
00:23:36,415 --> 00:23:38,625
close to each other
344
00:23:38,708 --> 00:23:40,168
confusion and uproar.
345
00:23:40,710 --> 00:23:43,380
And then... Don't move...
346
00:23:44,047 --> 00:23:46,550
Strung out like soldiers, you know?
347
00:23:47,717 --> 00:23:50,762
And the SS could pass between us,
348
00:23:50,846 --> 00:23:52,722
to check everyone.
349
00:23:52,806 --> 00:23:55,392
Going with the dogs and just intimidating us.
350
00:23:55,475 --> 00:23:59,187
- Did people stand in one row...
- Five each.
351
00:23:59,271 --> 00:24:00,230
Five in a row.
352
00:24:00,313 --> 00:24:02,482
It was easier to count that way. Five each.
353
00:24:03,108 --> 00:24:05,569
When I jumped out of the cattle car
354
00:24:05,652 --> 00:24:08,947
I knew immediately that all their promises,
355
00:24:09,030 --> 00:24:11,408
whatever they say - it's all a lie.
356
00:24:11,491 --> 00:24:17,539
And you see a lot of people running
in striped clothes with shaved heads.
357
00:24:17,622 --> 00:24:21,626
Surrounded by Nazi soldiers
and evil dogs.
358
00:24:21,710 --> 00:24:24,671
And they screamed and screamed.
359
00:24:24,754 --> 00:24:27,966
"Quick! Leave your luggage. Leave everything."
360
00:24:28,049 --> 00:24:31,428
Suddenly we were separated,
361
00:24:32,012 --> 00:24:33,847
my mother and me...
362
00:24:39,144 --> 00:24:40,896
my mother and...
363
00:24:42,939 --> 00:24:45,150
and my brother and my sister...
364
00:24:45,233 --> 00:24:48,695
She was holding my little brother
in one hand
365
00:24:48,778 --> 00:24:53,283
sister, who was four and a half
years, in another. I held her hand.
366
00:24:53,366 --> 00:24:55,619
That's how we came out together.
367
00:24:55,702 --> 00:24:58,747
They pushed us to ours
destination.
368
00:25:02,834 --> 00:25:06,588
When the transport arrived,
369
00:25:06,671 --> 00:25:08,632
{\an8}people began to be sorted.
370
00:25:08,715 --> 00:25:11,718
Dr. HANS MUNCH
FORMER NAZI DOCTOR OF AUSCHWITZ
371
00:25:11,801 --> 00:25:15,972
{\an8}It was a very primitive process,
very simple
372
00:25:16,681 --> 00:25:19,518
People lined up in a long line.
373
00:25:19,601 --> 00:25:26,107
In front of this row stood
some medical officers who said:
374
00:25:26,191 --> 00:25:30,570
"This one is old, over 50."
375
00:25:30,654 --> 00:25:36,409
"This one goes to the right, this one goes to the left."
376
00:25:37,536 --> 00:25:41,331
My mother was selected for that
railway station,
377
00:25:41,414 --> 00:25:44,960
she was directed to the left,
and me and my sister on the right.
378
00:25:45,043 --> 00:25:46,378
My mother was taken away
379
00:25:46,461 --> 00:25:49,798
from the railway station
straight to the gas chambers.
380
00:25:49,881 --> 00:25:53,802
Until my sister and I
transferred to the camp
381
00:25:53,885 --> 00:25:56,012
my mother is already dead.
382
00:26:25,625 --> 00:26:28,003
We were taken to the dressing room.
383
00:26:29,004 --> 00:26:32,632
We were told that they would take us away
to the shower after this
384
00:26:33,633 --> 00:26:37,137
this terrible journey
385
00:26:37,220 --> 00:26:39,472
and let us rest
386
00:26:39,556 --> 00:26:42,183
and then we will be assigned a job.
387
00:26:42,267 --> 00:26:48,064
They told us to keep our shoes on
in one hand, and the clothes in the other.
388
00:26:48,148 --> 00:26:50,066
And I remembered about diamonds.
389
00:26:50,150 --> 00:26:54,154
I grabbed my blue dress and
in that crowd, you know
390
00:26:54,237 --> 00:26:57,741
I quickly took out the diamonds
and clutched them in her hands,
391
00:26:57,824 --> 00:26:59,534
left without clothes on himself.
392
00:26:59,618 --> 00:27:03,997
And I remember how they stripped me
together with everyone
393
00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:07,917
and I stayed in that bathing suit of mine
stood in it.
394
00:27:14,883 --> 00:27:16,343
I had a premonition.
395
00:27:18,428 --> 00:27:21,765
I had this feeling
what if i take off this swimsuit
396
00:27:22,724 --> 00:27:25,268
if I leave him behind
397
00:27:26,227 --> 00:27:30,231
then all those wonderful memories that are connected
with this swimsuit...
398
00:27:31,024 --> 00:27:34,653
I kept remembering how I walked in it
to the pool
399
00:27:34,736 --> 00:27:39,282
as the boys whistled at me
and my girlfriends were jealous.
400
00:27:40,617 --> 00:27:44,329
And now I have to take it off
I have to leave it here.
401
00:27:44,913 --> 00:27:49,876
Everything that mattered to me
in my life, I had to leave behind.
402
00:27:54,047 --> 00:27:55,298
They continued to say
403
00:27:55,382 --> 00:27:58,802
if someone has valuables left,
leave them
404
00:27:58,885 --> 00:28:00,845
They had a section for that.
405
00:28:00,929 --> 00:28:05,266
I clung to those diamonds with all my might,
because you can buy bread with them.
406
00:28:05,350 --> 00:28:06,893
So I put them in my mouth.
407
00:28:07,811 --> 00:28:09,938
And when I moved on again,
408
00:28:10,021 --> 00:28:13,900
then I saw how they open their mouths to people
and looking there
409
00:28:13,983 --> 00:28:18,154
but I have already passed the point of no return.
410
00:28:18,238 --> 00:28:20,740
I couldn't give them away. I would be shot.
411
00:28:20,824 --> 00:28:22,992
Why didn't I leave them there?
412
00:28:23,076 --> 00:28:24,828
And they were in my mouth
413
00:28:24,911 --> 00:28:27,580
i didn't know what to do
so I swallowed them.
414
00:28:27,664 --> 00:28:29,958
We entered the shower room
415
00:28:30,041 --> 00:28:33,002
and they closed the door to the dressing room behind us,
416
00:28:33,086 --> 00:28:37,716
soldiers came and
immediately they took our things.
417
00:28:38,299 --> 00:28:42,846
Then we were given a shower,
a tiny tiny shower and then...
418
00:28:42,929 --> 00:28:45,014
There was a door on the other side,
419
00:28:45,098 --> 00:28:48,810
that led to the yard on the other side
of this building.
420
00:28:48,893 --> 00:28:51,563
And by that door was a pile of clothes.
421
00:28:51,646 --> 00:28:55,233
They ordered everyone to take one
one set of clothes.
422
00:28:55,316 --> 00:28:57,110
We waited until midnight,
423
00:28:57,193 --> 00:29:01,114
and then they let us in
to one of the wooden barracks.
424
00:29:01,698 --> 00:29:03,658
A thousand people in a barrack.
425
00:29:04,367 --> 00:29:09,038
If one person was returning,
everyone else had to come back too
426
00:29:09,122 --> 00:29:11,499
because we were all lying there close together.
427
00:29:12,167 --> 00:29:14,377
I usually woke up cold,
428
00:29:15,253 --> 00:29:16,087
and me...
429
00:29:17,338 --> 00:29:19,591
kept dreaming the same dreams
430
00:29:19,674 --> 00:29:21,509
that I'm at home
431
00:29:21,593 --> 00:29:23,178
that I'm very cold
432
00:29:23,261 --> 00:29:25,972
but my father will come
and comfort me...
433
00:29:26,848 --> 00:29:28,475
And then I woke up.
434
00:29:29,100 --> 00:29:30,185
From the whistle.
435
00:29:30,268 --> 00:29:31,728
It was dark outside.
436
00:29:32,312 --> 00:29:34,439
And it was crazy hell.
437
00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:44,991
We saw a group of 20 men
that passed through the camp,
438
00:29:45,074 --> 00:29:47,952
as they passed by
I looked at them.
439
00:29:48,036 --> 00:29:49,496
Maybe I know someone.
440
00:29:50,830 --> 00:29:53,291
And suddenly I recognized my father.
441
00:29:57,545 --> 00:30:00,048
My first thought was to hide.
442
00:30:02,050 --> 00:30:04,469
It was terribly painful to see him
443
00:30:04,552 --> 00:30:08,389
with a shaved head and a robe,
like a prisoner
444
00:30:08,473 --> 00:30:10,934
This man who helped everyone
445
00:30:11,851 --> 00:30:13,812
who was the kindest person.
446
00:30:13,895 --> 00:30:18,858
I couldn't even imagine
what will he feel when he sees us
447
00:30:18,942 --> 00:30:21,027
with shaved heads in rags?
448
00:30:22,237 --> 00:30:25,615
So I really wanted to hide
so that he doesn't see me.
449
00:30:26,616 --> 00:30:28,993
And at that moment our eyes met.
450
00:30:35,333 --> 00:30:38,628
And I saw how tears rolled down
on his cheeks.
451
00:30:45,510 --> 00:30:48,263
That was the last time
when I saw my father.
452
00:30:56,479 --> 00:30:59,023
I saw the trucks coming
453
00:30:59,107 --> 00:31:01,860
heard screams from them
454
00:31:01,943 --> 00:31:05,488
saw as two children
fell out of such a truck.
455
00:31:11,744 --> 00:31:13,162
And the truck stopped.
456
00:31:15,748 --> 00:31:18,251
Stopped...
457
00:31:18,334 --> 00:31:21,504
One of the SS men got out of her cabin
458
00:31:21,588 --> 00:31:24,966
and took those children like this.
459
00:31:25,049 --> 00:31:27,719
And he hit the truck with them,
460
00:31:27,802 --> 00:31:31,973
so that the blood flowed in a stream,
and then threw them back to the body.
461
00:31:33,099 --> 00:31:35,310
That's when I stopped praying to God.
462
00:31:43,443 --> 00:31:45,945
We were told we would get a number.
463
00:31:47,363 --> 00:31:48,907
Prison number.
464
00:31:48,990 --> 00:31:53,077
Well, of course we expected to get
prison number
465
00:31:53,161 --> 00:31:55,246
on our clothes or elsewhere.
466
00:31:55,330 --> 00:31:57,916
And they set those tables.
467
00:31:57,999 --> 00:32:01,002
Several guards sat at each table
468
00:32:01,085 --> 00:32:04,839
with giant books open
in front of them
469
00:32:05,548 --> 00:32:10,803
And we decided that they would record
our names are in them
470
00:32:10,887 --> 00:32:13,681
and the numbers they will give us.
471
00:32:15,350 --> 00:32:19,187
And then we realized
that they will engrave this number
472
00:32:20,104 --> 00:32:22,065
on our body.
473
00:32:22,148 --> 00:32:23,483
In our hands.
474
00:32:33,242 --> 00:32:35,954
They took five of us
and blindfolded us.
475
00:32:36,037 --> 00:32:40,249
We didn't know why. They didn't say.
And then we were taken to the dungeon.
476
00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:42,752
We were locked up there
477
00:32:42,835 --> 00:32:46,798
and we stood up to our ankles in water
in a continuous crowd
478
00:32:47,423 --> 00:32:49,968
it seemed like an eternity.
479
00:32:50,051 --> 00:32:53,805
It seemed like an eternity.
They did not open the door.
480
00:32:53,888 --> 00:32:57,266
They did not let us drink or eat.
481
00:32:57,350 --> 00:32:59,477
That's why we drank the water in which we were standing.
482
00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:02,730
We went under ourselves in the water
in which they stood
483
00:33:02,814 --> 00:33:05,775
And then they opened the door
and led us outside.
484
00:33:06,484 --> 00:33:11,406
We were brought to the yard
485
00:33:11,489 --> 00:33:13,282
and checked our eyes.
486
00:33:14,158 --> 00:33:18,079
Some of those people could not see
for several days after that.
487
00:33:18,997 --> 00:33:21,207
And then we were taken back to the barracks,
488
00:33:21,290 --> 00:33:24,085
later we found out what they were doing.
489
00:33:24,168 --> 00:33:26,838
They tried to change the color of our eyes.
490
00:33:26,921 --> 00:33:32,093
For those who wanted to spend
human studies
491
00:33:32,176 --> 00:33:35,388
it was a very useful workplace.
492
00:33:36,180 --> 00:33:40,810
Many experiments were carried out in Auschwitz,
to find ways to sterilize women,
493
00:33:40,893 --> 00:33:44,480
especially Jewish women,
to gradually destroy their race,
494
00:33:45,481 --> 00:33:50,111
without giving myself too much trouble.
495
00:33:50,194 --> 00:33:56,784
Then the women were sent back to the camp.
496
00:33:57,785 --> 00:34:00,705
Sometimes they were transferred immediately,
497
00:34:00,788 --> 00:34:05,501
for they were so called
"bearers of secrets".
498
00:34:06,252 --> 00:34:11,883
They conducted tests and then sent them away
back to Birkenau and gassed.
499
00:34:13,634 --> 00:34:19,098
One day an acquaintance came to me
the prisoner asked
500
00:34:19,182 --> 00:34:21,517
can i make any difference...
501
00:34:23,061 --> 00:34:27,815
can i do something
so that they are not sent to the gas chambers.
502
00:34:27,899 --> 00:34:34,238
The only way to do it
was to conduct more tests on them.
503
00:34:34,322 --> 00:34:40,119
To save them, we had to go on
conduct harmless tests on them.
504
00:34:40,203 --> 00:34:44,916
This is what we planned to do
and it kind of worked.
505
00:34:44,999 --> 00:34:50,963
And that is why I was found not guilty
506
00:34:51,714 --> 00:34:52,715
for Auschwitz
507
00:34:56,385 --> 00:34:59,847
Having survived the first
four and a half years of war,
508
00:34:59,931 --> 00:35:03,559
Hungarian Jews were killed
during the last stage
509
00:35:03,643 --> 00:35:07,563
Hitler's war against the Jews,
when world leaders
510
00:35:07,647 --> 00:35:11,943
knew in every detail that
what happened in Auschwitz.
511
00:35:12,026 --> 00:35:14,028
We got to Auschwitz
512
00:35:14,112 --> 00:35:16,656
during the "Final Solution",
513
00:35:16,739 --> 00:35:19,909
when Hitler had already fallen into despair.
514
00:35:19,992 --> 00:35:22,870
He was losing the war.
Hitler was losing it.
515
00:35:22,954 --> 00:35:26,165
But he was not going to lose the war
against the Jews.
516
00:35:26,249 --> 00:35:30,044
That sadism, animal cruelty,
517
00:35:30,128 --> 00:35:34,799
irrationality of German
and Hungarian Nazis
518
00:35:35,383 --> 00:35:39,679
during the killing of the Jewish remnants
community, when the war was almost over,
519
00:35:40,847 --> 00:35:44,559
when they could improve their reputation
520
00:35:44,642 --> 00:35:47,812
thanks to the more civilized
attitude towards Jews
521
00:35:48,521 --> 00:35:52,358
didn't actually happen
because they were completely blinded by hatred.
522
00:35:53,109 --> 00:35:57,697
The Nazis took away trains and others
vehicles
523
00:35:57,780 --> 00:35:59,490
useful for Germans
524
00:35:59,574 --> 00:36:02,243
to deport the Jews
525
00:36:02,326 --> 00:36:04,829
to carry out the plan
"Final solution".
526
00:36:04,912 --> 00:36:06,455
When I was in Auschwitz
527
00:36:06,539 --> 00:36:10,334
transport was arriving
two or three times a day.
528
00:36:11,085 --> 00:36:13,087
With thousands of people.
529
00:36:13,921 --> 00:36:15,548
In less than six weeks
530
00:36:16,215 --> 00:36:20,595
more than 438,000 Hungarian Jews
531
00:36:20,678 --> 00:36:22,471
was deported to Auschwitz.
532
00:36:22,972 --> 00:36:26,142
Gas chambers and crematoria
did not cope
533
00:36:27,018 --> 00:36:29,854
The SS had to dig special pits,
534
00:36:30,646 --> 00:36:32,231
to burn bodies
535
00:36:33,191 --> 00:36:37,570
using fat from the bodies of Jews
as fuel
536
00:36:38,070 --> 00:36:43,409
I saw how they threw people's bodies
to these fiery pits.
537
00:36:44,619 --> 00:36:48,623
And I said to myself: "Something is wrong with me.
I'm losing my mind."
538
00:36:49,415 --> 00:36:50,958
I couldn't look at it.
539
00:36:51,542 --> 00:36:55,630
There were mass burials
540
00:36:56,672 --> 00:37:02,470
about eight to ten
or ten by ten meters wide.
541
00:37:03,846 --> 00:37:08,517
Wood was thrown to the bottom
and kindled it.
542
00:37:09,518 --> 00:37:14,023
And then the bodies were thrown into this fire.
That's how everything was.
543
00:37:14,106 --> 00:37:18,986
If body fat was burning,
the grave was working.
544
00:37:20,529 --> 00:37:23,199
Then even more bodies were thrown at her.
545
00:37:25,326 --> 00:37:26,160
It's that simple.
546
00:37:30,122 --> 00:37:33,960
What an endless landscape you see here.
547
00:37:34,710 --> 00:37:39,131
How could people, normal people, come back
548
00:37:40,341 --> 00:37:42,051
after work here?
549
00:37:42,134 --> 00:37:44,136
Or plan something like that, you know?
550
00:37:44,220 --> 00:37:45,972
Someone had to plan it.
551
00:37:46,055 --> 00:37:48,975
Someone with an engineering background.
552
00:37:49,058 --> 00:37:55,773
Someone had to consciously plan
a death camp of this scale.
553
00:37:58,526 --> 00:38:02,613
But all the time of my stay in the camp,
despite those experiments
554
00:38:02,697 --> 00:38:05,741
every time i was elected
I swallowed diamonds.
555
00:38:06,450 --> 00:38:09,745
Every time I swallowed them
I had to find them again.
556
00:38:10,454 --> 00:38:13,249
We were allowed once a day
go to the toilet
557
00:38:13,332 --> 00:38:17,920
and I never sat over the hole,
because she had to look for her diamonds.
558
00:38:18,004 --> 00:38:22,758
And when that SS girl walked in the door
and saw me in the corner
559
00:38:22,842 --> 00:38:26,554
I already held diamonds in my hand.
I usually wait...
560
00:38:26,637 --> 00:38:30,433
On the way back I could
rinse them in the mud
561
00:38:30,516 --> 00:38:32,101
or, if there was no swamp,
562
00:38:32,184 --> 00:38:34,687
in the soup they gave us
563
00:38:34,770 --> 00:38:36,856
but I didn't have time, so I swallowed them.
564
00:38:39,233 --> 00:38:42,403
God, this is our toilet.
565
00:38:44,613 --> 00:38:46,032
oh god
566
00:38:48,117 --> 00:38:51,370
I was in this place with my sister,
567
00:38:51,454 --> 00:38:52,997
with Edith next to me.
568
00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:56,000
And Edith whispers to me and says:
569
00:38:57,335 --> 00:39:00,588
"It's almost Shabbat. Friday. It's almost Shabbat."
570
00:39:01,339 --> 00:39:04,008
And how we usually celebrated
sabbath at home
571
00:39:04,091 --> 00:39:07,678
with food, singing, prayers
572
00:39:07,762 --> 00:39:10,848
and, you know, with the lighting of the candles.
573
00:39:10,931 --> 00:39:15,061
And I said to her: "Why should we?
why not celebrate here, in the toilet?"
574
00:39:16,437 --> 00:39:21,025
We ran to the end of the toilet and started
perform our Shabbat ritual,
575
00:39:21,108 --> 00:39:22,860
we started singing.
576
00:39:27,114 --> 00:39:29,158
And during our singing
577
00:39:29,241 --> 00:39:33,371
the other children gathered around us
and started singing with us.
578
00:39:33,454 --> 00:39:36,665
Someone was from Holland.
Someone from Germany.
579
00:39:36,749 --> 00:39:40,419
Someone from Hungary, Czechoslovakia.
All from different places.
580
00:39:40,503 --> 00:39:45,049
And suddenly Jewish songs, prayers, Shabbat
581
00:39:45,633 --> 00:39:48,219
united us in the toilet of Auschwitz.
582
00:39:53,224 --> 00:39:55,434
No one could stand the pain
583
00:39:55,518 --> 00:39:58,479
those conditions, hunger and lice.
584
00:39:58,562 --> 00:40:02,108
The lice were as big as a fingernail
on my little finger
585
00:40:02,191 --> 00:40:03,692
they ate into our bodies
586
00:40:03,776 --> 00:40:07,780
everywhere there was inflammation from scratching
and infections.
587
00:40:07,863 --> 00:40:10,282
And when they turned on the electricity,
588
00:40:10,366 --> 00:40:13,786
people ran to the barbed wire
to commit suicide.
589
00:40:13,869 --> 00:40:17,540
Then we were punished for it.
For everyone who ran to the barbed wire,
590
00:40:17,623 --> 00:40:19,959
they took 100 prisoners
591
00:40:20,042 --> 00:40:24,004
and killed them in front of everyone, as an example.
592
00:40:24,088 --> 00:40:26,966
They didn't even let us die
when we wanted
593
00:40:27,049 --> 00:40:28,968
And then I thought about something.
594
00:40:29,051 --> 00:40:31,262
They took my parents.
595
00:40:31,345 --> 00:40:33,222
My identity was taken away.
596
00:40:33,305 --> 00:40:35,474
They took my brothers and sisters.
597
00:40:35,558 --> 00:40:37,518
They took my things.
598
00:40:38,602 --> 00:40:41,188
But still, they are something else
wanted from me
599
00:40:41,897 --> 00:40:43,774
Then I thought about my soul.
600
00:40:45,067 --> 00:40:47,111
And she said:
"They won't get her."
601
00:40:49,029 --> 00:40:51,157
And I decided then for myself:
602
00:40:51,240 --> 00:40:54,577
"I will get out of this mire
and I will fight
603
00:40:54,660 --> 00:40:57,121
for I am not going to turn to dust."
604
00:40:58,914 --> 00:41:01,292
When we arrived at Auschwitz,
605
00:41:01,375 --> 00:41:06,088
thousands of people were cremated every day.
606
00:41:06,172 --> 00:41:09,592
The Nazis used
Jewish prisoners,
607
00:41:09,675 --> 00:41:11,802
special Sonderkommando,
608
00:41:11,886 --> 00:41:14,805
to retrieve bodies from the gas chambers
609
00:41:14,889 --> 00:41:18,225
and move them to the crematorium.
610
00:41:18,309 --> 00:41:21,854
as far as i know
now there are only four of us left
611
00:41:21,937 --> 00:41:26,400
who once worked in the Sonderkommando.
612
00:41:27,026 --> 00:41:29,820
And we are the only witnesses
613
00:41:30,362 --> 00:41:34,492
who have seen everything from A to Z.
614
00:41:34,575 --> 00:41:37,286
They saw how it was implemented
"Final solution".
615
00:41:39,914 --> 00:41:42,166
I am a Jew from Greece.
616
00:41:42,249 --> 00:41:48,422
I lived in Greece until they took me away
to the concentration camp
617
00:41:48,506 --> 00:41:51,967
At the beginning of April 1944
618
00:41:52,718 --> 00:41:55,054
I arrived at Auschwitz.
619
00:41:56,222 --> 00:42:00,559
They selected several Greeks
for work in a crematorium.
620
00:42:00,643 --> 00:42:02,394
It was my first day there.
621
00:42:02,478 --> 00:42:04,355
I didn't know what was going on.
622
00:42:04,438 --> 00:42:07,483
I saw 2,500 people, all naked
623
00:42:07,566 --> 00:42:10,528
going to the big cell
to which later...
624
00:42:10,611 --> 00:42:14,657
The camera was only for 500 people.
And they brought 2,500 there.
625
00:42:14,740 --> 00:42:18,452
So no one could do anything
except to stand by your children.
626
00:42:18,536 --> 00:42:22,456
And in 15 minutes, you see,
after they closed the cells
627
00:42:22,540 --> 00:42:25,584
and the SS let the gas through those four holes,
628
00:42:25,668 --> 00:42:27,670
you understand, the door was opened.
629
00:42:27,753 --> 00:42:31,298
What did I see? I saw people
which I saw 15 minutes ago.
630
00:42:31,382 --> 00:42:35,386
I saw that they were all dead, standing
black and blue with their children.
631
00:42:36,053 --> 00:42:40,266
And I asked myself:
"What's going on here?"
632
00:42:41,141 --> 00:42:44,645
There was a Pole
who was there before me
633
00:42:44,728 --> 00:42:46,939
and I asked, "Where is God?"
634
00:42:47,022 --> 00:42:50,025
He replied, "God is where your strength is."
635
00:42:50,109 --> 00:42:52,528
NEW ARRIVALS CHOSEN FOR THE GAS CHAMBER
636
00:42:52,611 --> 00:42:58,325
There were four crematoria, you know.
and they worked around the clock.
637
00:42:58,409 --> 00:43:01,078
And there were many important tsabe from Berlin,
638
00:43:01,161 --> 00:43:03,706
who came and watched
how do jews die
639
00:43:03,789 --> 00:43:08,002
You see, there was a hole
hermetically sealed,
640
00:43:08,085 --> 00:43:11,755
and they looked at him as the Jews died.
641
00:43:11,839 --> 00:43:14,675
It lasted two to four minutes.
Depending on the location.
642
00:43:15,634 --> 00:43:19,555
Many people thought that we
Sonderkommando people
643
00:43:19,638 --> 00:43:23,892
were guilty of something
because they performed such work.
644
00:43:24,810 --> 00:43:29,607
But we ourselves, you know,
could not refuse.
645
00:43:29,690 --> 00:43:33,402
If you don't do what they say
you were killed immediately.
646
00:43:34,445 --> 00:43:38,782
I once had two friends.
Very close friends to me.
647
00:43:38,866 --> 00:43:42,369
They were brought to execution.
They were called Venetians.
648
00:43:42,911 --> 00:43:46,165
And I immediately told them
649
00:43:46,248 --> 00:43:48,334
that they will die here.
650
00:43:48,417 --> 00:43:52,713
And they asked for food
and i'll give them all i had
651
00:43:52,796 --> 00:43:56,842
and told them exactly where to stand
652
00:43:56,925 --> 00:44:01,221
where were the holes
that they die quickly
653
00:44:01,305 --> 00:44:05,392
and after all I got them out of there
washed
654
00:44:05,476 --> 00:44:09,104
and put it in the oven for cremation.
655
00:44:14,777 --> 00:44:16,987
JANUARY 1945
THE BATTLE FOR BUDAPEST
656
00:44:28,582 --> 00:44:31,835
We heard the sounds of guns
are getting closer and closer.
657
00:44:33,128 --> 00:44:36,215
And Budapest became a battlefield
658
00:44:36,298 --> 00:44:39,009
between the Germans and the Soviet army.
659
00:44:39,677 --> 00:44:42,971
And although we knew that the minute was the week,
660
00:44:43,055 --> 00:44:47,393
before the Soviet army can
free the surviving Jews,
661
00:44:47,476 --> 00:44:51,271
we knew that there were many difficulties
were still ahead.
662
00:44:55,067 --> 00:44:56,902
In Auschwitz, after Ridzv,
663
00:44:56,985 --> 00:45:00,739
we heard it getting closer and closer
bomb explosions are heard.
664
00:45:01,615 --> 00:45:04,660
The Nazis did not want anyone to be released,
665
00:45:04,743 --> 00:45:08,038
therefore they drove the people like a herd,
away from camp
666
00:45:09,081 --> 00:45:11,333
The Death March took place in winter.
667
00:45:11,417 --> 00:45:15,963
Those who could not go further
just shot on the side of the road.
668
00:45:20,384 --> 00:45:24,972
If someone tried to escape
669
00:45:26,306 --> 00:45:30,477
or did something forbidden,
they were shot on the spot.
670
00:45:31,145 --> 00:45:35,357
We were three friends
who were together until this moment.
671
00:45:35,441 --> 00:45:41,655
But we vowed to sacrifice
their lives for each other.
672
00:45:41,739 --> 00:45:43,949
That we will not leave each other in trouble.
673
00:45:44,032 --> 00:45:47,953
Children. You see, we dreamed of
that we can do everything.
674
00:45:48,036 --> 00:45:52,207
One of us had a wound on the knee,
which turned into gangrene,
675
00:45:52,291 --> 00:45:54,960
and one of the soldiers saw
that he is limping.
676
00:45:55,043 --> 00:45:57,546
So he went up to shoot him.
677
00:45:57,629 --> 00:46:00,924
We stood before him.
He pulled out his Luger and said:
678
00:46:01,008 --> 00:46:04,052
“I'll give you three seconds.
I count to three.
679
00:46:04,136 --> 00:46:07,973
Or you give it away
or all three will die.'
680
00:46:08,599 --> 00:46:13,562
Can you imagine how we, so young,
was to make such a decision?
681
00:46:13,645 --> 00:46:17,775
We swore we'd die for each other
682
00:46:17,858 --> 00:46:21,111
but they could not under the threat of death
keep the promise
683
00:46:21,612 --> 00:46:22,905
We let him die.
684
00:46:27,409 --> 00:46:31,747
We arrived somewhere on the tenth day of the march,
we arrived at Dachau.
685
00:46:39,004 --> 00:46:44,551
BILL WITH HIS SON MARTIN
DACHAU CONCENTRATION CAMP, GERMANY
686
00:46:51,642 --> 00:46:52,768
oh god
687
00:46:55,187 --> 00:46:56,688
After 53 years...
688
00:46:59,983 --> 00:47:01,693
Everything is as if it happened yesterday.
689
00:47:08,826 --> 00:47:11,870
You saw them lying here on the street
690
00:47:11,954 --> 00:47:15,082
and did not pay attention.
They just stepped over bodies.
691
00:47:15,165 --> 00:47:17,501
They did not apply. Because it meant nothing.
692
00:47:17,584 --> 00:47:18,710
- Right here?
-Yes.
693
00:47:20,087 --> 00:47:23,423
I never knew their names.
694
00:47:23,507 --> 00:47:25,676
Didn't want to know any.
695
00:47:26,385 --> 00:47:29,471
I didn't want to know because one day
696
00:47:29,555 --> 00:47:31,890
someone could recognize this person
697
00:47:32,724 --> 00:47:35,894
from which I took off my shoes
when he died
698
00:47:39,147 --> 00:47:43,902
If you could imagine that every morning
my job was...
699
00:47:43,986 --> 00:47:46,947
I had to go from barrack to barrack,
700
00:47:47,030 --> 00:47:50,409
collect their bodies and
bring them to the crematorium.
701
00:47:50,993 --> 00:47:52,786
We had one of those wagons.
702
00:47:53,620 --> 00:47:57,708
I remember how Sonderkommando,
who worked in the crematorium,
703
00:47:57,791 --> 00:48:00,294
came out, opening this gate.
704
00:48:00,377 --> 00:48:02,462
They took the body and carried it there,
705
00:48:02,546 --> 00:48:04,590
but we were not allowed to enter.
706
00:48:04,673 --> 00:48:08,135
They never talked about the crematorium,
but we knew
707
00:48:09,219 --> 00:48:11,346
You could go here
but not out.
708
00:48:11,430 --> 00:48:13,765
No one was allowed out of this area.
709
00:48:13,849 --> 00:48:18,312
Because if they release someone
and he will run away
710
00:48:18,395 --> 00:48:21,899
then he will tell about everything.
That's why they didn't let anyone out.
711
00:48:29,781 --> 00:48:30,866
Look at it.
712
00:48:47,424 --> 00:48:50,802
Man's inhumanity to another man
713
00:48:52,137 --> 00:48:53,513
beyond all imagination.
714
00:48:55,265 --> 00:48:56,099
This is...
715
00:48:57,142 --> 00:48:59,853
the most terrible thing that man has invented.
716
00:49:02,856 --> 00:49:06,568
Burning people just to get rid of them
them as soon as possible.
717
00:49:07,986 --> 00:49:09,488
I can't believe it.
718
00:49:29,549 --> 00:49:32,135
It's so emotional. So hard.
719
00:49:38,934 --> 00:49:40,560
So why did I survive?
720
00:49:41,812 --> 00:49:43,563
Why did God spare me?
721
00:49:48,735 --> 00:49:52,155
Someone started shouting: "Americans!"
722
00:49:52,239 --> 00:49:56,535
And we didn't understand what they were talking about.
And they began to point to the sky.
723
00:49:56,618 --> 00:50:00,580
Airplanes appeared from behind the mountains as if from nowhere,
724
00:50:00,664 --> 00:50:03,959
and they started bombing our convoy.
725
00:50:04,042 --> 00:50:07,295
But we were not affected.
None of us were hurt.
726
00:50:07,379 --> 00:50:11,842
It was then that I first learned
that the US was also at war.
727
00:50:11,925 --> 00:50:16,513
It was April 29,
when I was ordered to go to Dachau.
728
00:50:17,180 --> 00:50:19,182
In fact, at night on the 28th.
729
00:50:19,266 --> 00:50:24,730
And we were ordered to leave as early as possible,
to reach Dachau
730
00:50:25,439 --> 00:50:27,357
not knowing what lies ahead.
731
00:50:27,441 --> 00:50:29,609
We thought it was a military camp,
732
00:50:29,693 --> 00:50:33,113
german military camp,
which we had to storm
733
00:50:33,196 --> 00:50:36,742
we were to surround him and capture him
people inside.
734
00:50:36,825 --> 00:50:38,994
We were on the verge of
735
00:50:39,077 --> 00:50:43,582
which, as it turned out, were concentration camps.
736
00:50:45,042 --> 00:50:48,879
Suddenly we heard a machine gun firing.
737
00:50:49,671 --> 00:50:52,507
At first we thought
that they are killing us
738
00:50:52,591 --> 00:50:56,136
Then we saw American soldiers,
that struggled, crawled and shot.
739
00:50:56,219 --> 00:50:59,514
Then we saw German soldiers,
that went from there.
740
00:51:00,223 --> 00:51:03,643
And when they met here in the middle
the Germans surrendered.
741
00:51:04,311 --> 00:51:10,609
But imagine 32,000 people
coming out of all these barracks.
742
00:51:10,692 --> 00:51:11,860
Outside the camp
743
00:51:13,070 --> 00:51:15,030
was on the railway tracks
744
00:51:16,239 --> 00:51:18,658
about 40 goods wagons.
745
00:51:18,742 --> 00:51:21,453
Completely dead.
746
00:51:24,164 --> 00:51:28,085
And not knowing anything at all about
what we faced
747
00:51:29,211 --> 00:51:30,045
it was
748
00:51:31,671 --> 00:51:32,672
completely unrealistic.
749
00:51:35,175 --> 00:51:39,554
Most of them wore flannel pajamas.
It was all they had.
750
00:51:40,222 --> 00:51:42,682
Blue stripe, white stripe.
751
00:51:42,766 --> 00:51:45,102
- Flannel pajamas.
- People were weak.
752
00:51:46,603 --> 00:51:49,564
"Weak", probably
not quite the right term.
753
00:51:50,941 --> 00:51:52,567
But they were exhausted.
754
00:51:54,611 --> 00:51:56,947
Some looked much older than their age.
755
00:51:57,656 --> 00:52:01,034
They were the walking dead
that's what we called them. Bones
756
00:52:01,868 --> 00:52:03,578
At first only a few came out,
757
00:52:03,662 --> 00:52:06,039
and then more and more came out,
758
00:52:06,123 --> 00:52:07,958
they kept coming towards us
759
00:52:08,041 --> 00:52:10,961
because they must have realized
760
00:52:11,044 --> 00:52:14,256
I think so.
They realized that we were different.
761
00:52:14,840 --> 00:52:17,884
That we were human
who came to help them.
762
00:52:17,968 --> 00:52:21,847
And the Americans held the Germans at gunpoint,
763
00:52:21,930 --> 00:52:24,766
but they did not kill them. They gave them to us.
764
00:52:25,350 --> 00:52:29,646
We caught about a dozen
German soldiers
765
00:52:29,729 --> 00:52:33,275
and literally tore them to pieces.
766
00:52:34,734 --> 00:52:37,487
We captured a German colonel.
767
00:52:38,697 --> 00:52:40,866
And I went to him and told him
768
00:52:40,949 --> 00:52:44,744
that we are going to send him
to the officers to talk.
769
00:52:45,662 --> 00:52:47,289
And he spat in my face.
770
00:52:48,540 --> 00:52:49,624
Then I killed him.
771
00:52:51,042 --> 00:52:53,879
The war is almost over.
772
00:52:53,962 --> 00:52:55,630
But in those last days
773
00:52:55,714 --> 00:52:58,925
we tried to get rid of
Germany opportunities
774
00:52:59,009 --> 00:53:01,553
rise up again and do this to someone else.
775
00:53:02,679 --> 00:53:06,099
I have seen many terrible things
776
00:53:06,183 --> 00:53:10,187
during those two years of war.
In Italy, France and Germany,
777
00:53:10,270 --> 00:53:13,732
but the worst thing ever seen
in my life
778
00:53:13,815 --> 00:53:15,942
were those who survived the Holocaust.
779
00:53:23,575 --> 00:53:25,202
It's something that...
780
00:53:26,745 --> 00:53:28,538
To this day I cannot forget.
781
00:53:33,043 --> 00:53:37,380
DACHAU
782
00:53:40,842 --> 00:53:46,973
BERGEN-BELSEN
783
00:53:47,057 --> 00:53:52,687
BERGEN-BELSEN
784
00:53:55,607 --> 00:54:02,364
AUSCHWITZ
785
00:54:02,447 --> 00:54:07,369
AUSCHWITZ
786
00:54:11,248 --> 00:54:14,751
BUCHENWALD
787
00:54:17,087 --> 00:54:19,089
ORDRUF
788
00:54:21,216 --> 00:54:25,762
MAIDANEK
789
00:54:28,765 --> 00:54:34,354
NORDHAUSEN
790
00:54:38,233 --> 00:54:42,570
MAUTHAUSEN
791
00:54:54,833 --> 00:54:57,127
I was no longer young.
792
00:54:57,752 --> 00:54:59,004
I was very old.
793
00:54:59,963 --> 00:55:02,424
I was 16, but I was an old man.
794
00:55:02,924 --> 00:55:06,720
It was very difficult to return to freedom.
795
00:55:07,637 --> 00:55:11,433
We did not know how we would live in peace
with the outside world
796
00:55:11,516 --> 00:55:12,892
who didn't want us
797
00:55:12,976 --> 00:55:14,311
And we didn't know
798
00:55:17,230 --> 00:55:20,066
who we will find and who we will not.
799
00:55:20,859 --> 00:55:24,654
They didn't know what to do with us.
And we were sent to camp Dee-P,
800
00:55:24,738 --> 00:55:27,449
which was a camp for displaced persons.
801
00:55:27,532 --> 00:55:31,161
And the closest to me was the camp in Austria.
802
00:55:31,244 --> 00:55:37,167
And all the survivors who had nowhere else to go
to leave, were in this camp.
803
00:55:37,917 --> 00:55:40,962
So it was another camp,
but we were free.
804
00:55:43,465 --> 00:55:47,802
After the Soviet army
liberated Budapest
805
00:55:47,886 --> 00:55:51,598
and I became a free man again
806
00:55:51,681 --> 00:55:53,683
I didn't know for months
807
00:55:54,267 --> 00:55:58,730
will my mother or others return
my family members
808
00:56:02,525 --> 00:56:08,448
I hoped that when I returned to Auschwitz,
I'm finally done with all this.
809
00:56:10,283 --> 00:56:14,162
And I was shocked to realize
810
00:56:14,245 --> 00:56:19,209
that there were even more new questions
and new doubts.
811
00:56:21,753 --> 00:56:26,091
I would like to know about my family.
812
00:56:26,174 --> 00:56:30,470
She would like to review the information
about his family and himself.
813
00:56:34,224 --> 00:56:35,975
your name please
814
00:56:36,059 --> 00:56:38,395
Rene. R-e-n-e.
815
00:56:39,938 --> 00:56:43,441
This is the first time I have decided
816
00:56:44,526 --> 00:56:46,945
find some records about my family.
817
00:56:50,657 --> 00:56:54,452
And my sister was Clara.
818
00:57:08,216 --> 00:57:10,510
Did you find anything?
819
00:57:10,593 --> 00:57:15,515
Yes, I found something.
We can take a look together.
820
00:57:31,156 --> 00:57:33,533
Please stack the cards like this.
821
00:57:46,296 --> 00:57:49,048
Clara. my sister
822
00:57:53,136 --> 00:57:59,476
I found records of my sister
father and about me
823
00:57:59,559 --> 00:58:01,519
and when i asked about my mother
824
00:58:03,480 --> 00:58:05,940
the archivist, and the historian, told me
825
00:58:06,024 --> 00:58:09,694
what about those
who was taken from the railway track
826
00:58:09,777 --> 00:58:11,446
and immediately killed
827
00:58:11,529 --> 00:58:13,323
there are no records.
828
00:58:14,240 --> 00:58:20,205
Take this upstairs to the archives
and ring the bell, okay?
829
00:58:24,876 --> 00:58:26,920
Thank you.
830
00:58:32,175 --> 00:58:37,055
It's a blood test or something medical.
831
00:58:37,138 --> 00:58:39,516
Which was held on Clara Weinfeld.
832
00:58:39,599 --> 00:58:42,810
I found out that my sister had it
did some experiments
833
00:58:42,894 --> 00:58:46,856
that they did some blood tests on her.
834
00:58:46,940 --> 00:58:48,900
And what does it all mean?
835
00:58:51,819 --> 00:58:53,905
And he said: "I really don't know."
836
00:58:53,988 --> 00:58:55,907
Said: "I was never asked.
837
00:58:55,990 --> 00:58:59,869
But there is Dr. Munch,
who headed this clinic,
838
00:58:59,953 --> 00:59:01,329
he is still alive."
839
00:59:01,412 --> 00:59:05,291
And then I found out
that you will interview this person
840
00:59:05,375 --> 00:59:10,213
and that I may have a chance to ask him
what do these symbols mean.
841
00:59:11,130 --> 00:59:18,012
My sister Klara died in Auschwitz
842
00:59:18,721 --> 00:59:24,477
and I recently received
these documents are from Auschwitz.
843
00:59:26,688 --> 00:59:31,150
- I want you to explain them to me.
- I will try.
844
00:59:33,361 --> 00:59:35,655
Can you tell me what it is?
845
00:59:39,617 --> 00:59:41,703
No, nothing important, no.
846
00:59:43,788 --> 00:59:46,332
What kind of experiments were these?
847
00:59:46,916 --> 00:59:49,752
It's empty. "Everything is fine."
848
00:59:50,670 --> 00:59:57,510
- Why did she die?
- "Clinical Institute".
849
00:59:57,594 --> 00:59:58,928
This is my institute.
850
01:00:02,515 --> 01:00:03,766
She died.
851
01:00:06,227 --> 01:00:10,148
When did she arrive? How long did you stay?
852
01:00:11,566 --> 01:00:12,400
Half a year
853
01:00:13,067 --> 01:00:15,862
- Six months.
- Six months?
854
01:00:15,945 --> 01:00:17,030
And then she died.
855
01:00:18,948 --> 01:00:23,494
Well, this is a normal period.
Do you understand?
856
01:00:23,578 --> 01:00:28,916
Have you been to Auschwitz too?
Well, then you should know.
857
01:00:29,000 --> 01:00:31,878
I tried to be civilized
858
01:00:32,629 --> 01:00:35,173
but he answered very evasively
859
01:00:35,256 --> 01:00:37,800
and I got very angry.
860
01:00:38,676 --> 01:00:44,223
It never crossed my mind that thousands of people
died in his clinic.
861
01:00:45,683 --> 01:00:49,812
I'm going to be back
to the Fifth Crematorium,
862
01:00:49,896 --> 01:00:53,232
because i know for sure
that my mother was taken there.
863
01:00:54,233 --> 01:00:56,152
I will light some candles.
864
01:00:56,986 --> 01:00:59,947
and i know
that I will never come back here again.
865
01:01:04,994 --> 01:01:05,828
And now,
866
01:01:06,871 --> 01:01:08,998
very recently
867
01:01:09,582 --> 01:01:13,127
I received a new letter from Bergen-Belsen,
868
01:01:14,045 --> 01:01:18,758
that they have no Edith Locke.
They looked through all their books.
869
01:01:18,841 --> 01:01:21,511
But they found Edith Schwartz.
870
01:01:22,303 --> 01:01:24,889
And at a certain moment I remembered
871
01:01:24,972 --> 01:01:28,017
that my sister edith decided
872
01:01:28,601 --> 01:01:31,813
that she will use her mother's last name,
but i forgot it.
873
01:01:31,896 --> 01:01:35,942
And all these years I was looking for Edith Locke.
874
01:01:36,901 --> 01:01:40,154
-Can you search among Hungarians?
- Hungarians?
875
01:01:41,614 --> 01:01:44,033
Let's search. OK.
876
01:01:45,243 --> 01:01:46,994
- They are not in alphabetical order.
-Really?
877
01:01:50,998 --> 01:01:53,501
Edith Schwartz
878
01:02:04,762 --> 01:02:07,056
Returning to Bergen-Belsen,
879
01:02:07,140 --> 01:02:12,270
I wanted my husband to pray
with me and my children
880
01:02:13,229 --> 01:02:18,443
because this is how we symbolically buried Edith.
881
01:02:18,526 --> 01:02:22,113
This is a cemetery where people were buried
882
01:02:22,196 --> 01:02:25,658
who were brought after the release
to the military barracks.
883
01:02:26,284 --> 01:02:28,369
We found your sister's name.
884
01:02:29,537 --> 01:02:30,580
She died here.
885
01:02:30,663 --> 01:02:33,332
We think it was June 2, 1945.
886
01:02:35,710 --> 01:02:40,965
All the people who died in those days
were buried here together.
887
01:02:47,513 --> 01:02:51,017
Today is the most special day
in my life
888
01:02:52,143 --> 01:02:54,145
Finally my search is over.
889
01:02:55,438 --> 01:02:59,400
And now we know
what happened and when it happened.
890
01:03:02,028 --> 01:03:05,531
I brought my mother's prayer book here
891
01:03:05,615 --> 01:03:07,950
and here we will pray for you
892
01:03:08,034 --> 01:03:10,870
with our traditional prayers
893
01:03:10,953 --> 01:03:13,498
and we will light a candle in memory of you.
894
01:03:14,499 --> 01:03:16,334
And we will remember you...
895
01:03:17,710 --> 01:03:18,586
forever...
896
01:03:19,712 --> 01:03:21,088
as long as we live
897
01:04:14,350 --> 01:04:17,311
But there are still many people like me
898
01:04:18,020 --> 01:04:19,605
who are still searching.
899
01:04:21,232 --> 01:04:24,402
Because for us
900
01:04:25,319 --> 01:04:27,572
final release did not take place.
901
01:04:37,123 --> 01:04:40,167
I got a message
that I was chosen
902
01:04:40,251 --> 01:04:42,253
to receive an academic education
903
01:04:42,336 --> 01:04:46,173
at the University of Washington,
in a place called Seattle
904
01:04:46,257 --> 01:04:49,927
because no one told me
what is the correct way to say "Seattle".
905
01:04:50,428 --> 01:04:53,973
I had a ticket
on the steamer "Marine Falcon".
906
01:04:54,974 --> 01:05:00,813
I went to the B-20 cabin, put my backpack
and I was called to "chew" something.
907
01:05:00,897 --> 01:05:04,734
I had no idea what "chewing" was.
I did not know this English word.
908
01:05:04,817 --> 01:05:06,611
Here I am standing in the "chewing" queue.
909
01:05:06,694 --> 01:05:09,947
They gave us these big metal trays
and it was a period
910
01:05:10,031 --> 01:05:14,118
when my mind was still
focused on hunger.
911
01:05:14,994 --> 01:05:19,540
And these wonderful people were laying down wonderful things
on this metal tray.
912
01:05:19,624 --> 01:05:21,250
And at the end of that queue
913
01:05:21,834 --> 01:05:25,755
there was a huge wicker basket
with oranges
914
01:05:26,339 --> 01:05:28,758
And a giant wicker basket with bananas.
915
01:05:29,258 --> 01:05:33,137
My mother taught me to do the right thing
and I did not know how to act here.
916
01:05:33,220 --> 01:05:35,222
There was also a giant sailor
917
01:05:35,306 --> 01:05:38,559
and I asked him:
“Sir, should I take a banana?
918
01:05:38,643 --> 01:05:40,144
Is it orange?”
919
01:05:41,020 --> 01:05:46,108
And he said: "You can eat so many damn things
bananas and oranges, as much as you want."
920
01:05:46,192 --> 01:05:48,277
and then I knew I was in heaven.
921
01:05:49,320 --> 01:05:53,950
I loved my city, it seemed to me
picturesque and happy.
922
01:05:55,326 --> 01:06:00,414
I plan to visit it for the first time
since 1944, when she left him.
923
01:06:00,498 --> 01:06:04,293
Look at the sign, Robin.
This is the inscription "Polyana" in Russian.
924
01:06:04,919 --> 01:06:05,795
Do you see?
925
01:06:07,046 --> 01:06:09,090
A river flows to the right.
926
01:06:09,173 --> 01:06:11,300
We used to swim there.
927
01:06:11,384 --> 01:06:14,887
I hope I find some of the people
whom I knew
928
01:06:14,971 --> 01:06:16,472
to the holocaust
929
01:06:17,515 --> 01:06:19,809
and maybe I can talk to them.
930
01:06:20,559 --> 01:06:22,561
-Mushrooms in a jar. Do you see?
-Yes.
931
01:06:24,981 --> 01:06:28,985
Maybe they'll tell me things
that happened while I was gone.
932
01:06:44,083 --> 01:06:47,753
This woman, Marichka,
she remembers my grandparents
933
01:06:47,837 --> 01:06:50,798
and my father, mother and me.
934
01:06:50,881 --> 01:06:53,843
I was most surprised by
that she remembers me.
935
01:06:55,720 --> 01:07:00,099
I was really afraid that these people
be hostile to me,
936
01:07:00,683 --> 01:07:05,813
that they will accuse me of
that I came back because I want something from them.
937
01:07:06,856 --> 01:07:10,026
I was asked very politely:
938
01:07:10,109 --> 01:07:15,239
“Do I plan to return my property
and live there again?"
939
01:07:15,322 --> 01:07:17,324
And I said: "No."
940
01:07:17,408 --> 01:07:21,078
i just want
so that my children know where I'm from
941
01:07:21,162 --> 01:07:25,291
and I wanted to see the city once again,
where I grew up before I die.
942
01:07:30,963 --> 01:07:33,382
Return to my hometown
943
01:07:34,258 --> 01:07:37,178
with my family, my child,
944
01:07:37,970 --> 01:07:41,390
show her this beautiful city that...
945
01:07:42,141 --> 01:07:46,645
Everywhere we went
the word "Jew" did not exist.
946
01:07:46,729 --> 01:07:49,815
Was in this building
Jewish Community Center.
947
01:07:50,357 --> 01:07:56,989
I wanted to visit the Jewish temple,
which was a beautiful synagogue.
948
01:07:59,325 --> 01:08:01,535
Look how they...
949
01:08:01,619 --> 01:08:03,370
oh god
950
01:08:03,454 --> 01:08:06,665
What have they done to this city
you have no idea.
951
01:08:06,749 --> 01:08:09,085
I can't believe it.
952
01:08:09,168 --> 01:08:11,087
We entered that temple
953
01:08:12,254 --> 01:08:15,549
and met this man
Jewish man.
954
01:08:15,633 --> 01:08:17,593
He was also in Auschwitz.
955
01:08:18,260 --> 01:08:20,554
Hello, do you know Hungarian?
956
01:08:21,639 --> 01:08:24,308
Good morning. Are you local?
957
01:08:24,391 --> 01:08:28,521
I was born here in 1928.
958
01:08:28,604 --> 01:08:30,815
I am from the Weinfeld family.
959
01:08:30,898 --> 01:08:31,732
Weinfelds?
960
01:08:31,816 --> 01:08:38,572
My father had a shop
in Chobotariv lane
961
01:08:38,656 --> 01:08:41,408
and of course my mother attended this temple.
962
01:08:41,492 --> 01:08:45,621
My Bar Mitzvah was held here
when I turned 13 in 1941.
963
01:08:45,704 --> 01:08:48,290
And why did you stay here?
964
01:08:48,374 --> 01:08:53,963
Because I came back from Auschwitz
965
01:08:54,964 --> 01:08:56,882
June 6, 1945,
966
01:08:57,716 --> 01:09:01,053
and in a few days the borders were closed.
967
01:09:01,137 --> 01:09:05,474
Then he took us around this temple
and explained to us
968
01:09:05,558 --> 01:09:08,227
that it is no longer a Jewish temple.
969
01:09:08,310 --> 01:09:12,022
{\an8}In the old days there were stars of David here.
970
01:09:12,106 --> 01:09:14,108
{\an8}What did they do with him?
971
01:09:14,191 --> 01:09:17,820
{\an8}They converted it into a concert hall.
972
01:09:17,903 --> 01:09:22,283
{\an8}They cleaned everything.
973
01:09:22,366 --> 01:09:24,952
It hurts so much to see
974
01:09:25,578 --> 01:09:32,543
that this holy place was transformed
to a place of entertainment.
975
01:09:34,712 --> 01:09:38,716
{\an8}The hardest part was
return to my house.
976
01:09:38,799 --> 01:09:40,509
Oh God!
977
01:09:43,762 --> 01:09:49,351
This is the original wicket.
978
01:09:49,935 --> 01:09:52,771
-At the entrance.
- At the entrance, yes.
979
01:09:54,773 --> 01:09:56,192
He was neglected.
980
01:09:57,067 --> 01:10:01,697
This beautiful house
about whom my father always cared so much.
981
01:10:01,780 --> 01:10:05,367
And everything around was perfectly groomed.
982
01:10:06,619 --> 01:10:08,287
- I think it is closed.
-No.
983
01:10:08,370 --> 01:10:09,705
No, it's not like that.
984
01:10:09,788 --> 01:10:11,957
- It just doesn't open.
- Maybe we'll go?
985
01:10:12,041 --> 01:10:14,418
Does not open.
986
01:10:14,501 --> 01:10:18,297
This moment
I really wished I hadn't seen it.
987
01:10:29,183 --> 01:10:31,352
One of our neighbors
988
01:10:31,435 --> 01:10:36,190
who was still a child when we were taken away
still lived here.
989
01:10:37,858 --> 01:10:40,945
Thank God you are still alive.
990
01:10:45,032 --> 01:10:49,370
I tell you, I still remember everything
as it was before.
991
01:10:49,453 --> 01:10:52,331
Now he had a Russian wife,
992
01:10:52,414 --> 01:10:54,333
who was very sympathetic.
993
01:10:54,416 --> 01:10:57,211
Your own home...
994
01:10:57,294 --> 01:11:01,006
To take someone's home
is that possible?
995
01:11:01,090 --> 01:11:05,719
A lot could be said
but you know what they say:
996
01:11:05,803 --> 01:11:08,222
"Even walls have ears."
997
01:11:08,305 --> 01:11:13,310
She was afraid to tell me
what actually happened when we were taken away.
998
01:11:14,895 --> 01:11:21,610
tell me after we were taken away
did you talk about it?
999
01:11:21,694 --> 01:11:28,492
We felt so sorry for Clara.
We heard she died on the way.
1000
01:11:28,575 --> 01:11:33,038
No. She died there.
1001
01:11:33,122 --> 01:11:34,123
poor thing
1002
01:11:35,416 --> 01:11:38,085
I've only seen this in movies.
1003
01:11:38,836 --> 01:11:42,965
Did they really burn people?
1004
01:11:43,048 --> 01:11:46,969
Unfortunately, everything was much more terrible,
than shown in movies.
1005
01:11:47,052 --> 01:11:49,430
At that moment I felt how lucky I was,
1006
01:11:49,513 --> 01:11:54,268
that i can come back
to the United States, to his home.
1007
01:11:57,479 --> 01:12:01,817
I kept those diamonds
kept despite everything.
1008
01:12:02,401 --> 01:12:07,656
And when I was fired,
I didn't talk about the holocaust
1009
01:12:07,740 --> 01:12:12,077
but I took those diamonds and put them in
in a pendant in the shape of a tear,
1010
01:12:12,161 --> 01:12:15,039
because every time i saved them
I cried a lot.
1011
01:12:15,122 --> 01:12:18,667
Therefore, I decided that the shape of a tear
will fit as best as possible.
1012
01:12:18,751 --> 01:12:22,338
And I told my children
that these diamonds should be transferred
1013
01:12:22,421 --> 01:12:24,214
from generation to generation
1014
01:12:24,298 --> 01:12:28,260
through the oldest girl in the family, forever.
1015
01:12:28,344 --> 01:12:29,595
...how does it taste.
1016
01:12:31,847 --> 01:12:35,392
And, as you can see, they are of different shapes
and different cuts.
1017
01:12:35,893 --> 01:12:38,103
And they are the only thing that...
1018
01:12:39,646 --> 01:12:42,149
which was left to me from my mother.
1019
01:12:45,944 --> 01:12:48,155
I don't know what you're thinking...
1020
01:12:48,238 --> 01:12:52,659
My life today is
which is hard for me to believe.
1021
01:12:54,870 --> 01:13:01,210
To be chosen is 600,000
by my constituents in California
1022
01:13:01,835 --> 01:13:02,961
nine times -
1023
01:13:03,712 --> 01:13:05,422
it's all like a dream.
1024
01:13:05,506 --> 01:13:06,882
And it all adds up
1025
01:13:07,716 --> 01:13:10,719
incredible responsibility on me...
1026
01:13:10,803 --> 01:13:13,931
{\an8}As the only elected US congressman,
1027
01:13:14,014 --> 01:13:16,934
{\an8}who survived the Holocaust,
1028
01:13:17,643 --> 01:13:20,229
{\an8}I would like to express on behalf of all my colleagues,
1029
01:13:20,312 --> 01:13:22,564
{\an8}Republicans and Democrats,
1030
01:13:23,232 --> 01:13:27,945
{\an8}our strong condemnation of recent
terrorist attacks...
1031
01:13:28,028 --> 01:13:32,199
{\an8}The most important thing in my life
there are, of course, human rights,
1032
01:13:33,033 --> 01:13:35,744
because I am convinced that this is the only way
1033
01:13:36,537 --> 01:13:38,288
for a more civilized world.
1034
01:13:39,415 --> 01:13:43,001
My wife Anet and I know each other
all our lives
1035
01:13:43,627 --> 01:13:46,964
We grew up together in Budapest.
1036
01:13:48,257 --> 01:13:50,968
And we have been married for 47 years.
1037
01:13:52,386 --> 01:13:53,971
We have two daughters
1038
01:13:54,847 --> 01:13:57,516
who showed up early and said
1039
01:13:57,599 --> 01:14:02,771
that they are planning a special gift
for their parents.
1040
01:14:04,648 --> 01:14:08,652
As our families were destroyed,
they will give us a big family.
1041
01:14:10,237 --> 01:14:15,409
And we were blessed with 17 wonderful grandchildren
1042
01:14:16,243 --> 01:14:18,495
and they really are the meaning of our life.
1043
01:14:22,541 --> 01:14:27,754
I would like to become famous
as an elucidator of the Holocaust.
1044
01:14:28,338 --> 01:14:31,300
That's why I go to the Museum of Tolerance
1045
01:14:31,383 --> 01:14:34,178
where I founded a social program.
1046
01:14:34,887 --> 01:14:40,184
And I hang out with groups
who come to this museum.
1047
01:14:40,684 --> 01:14:41,727
...appeared.
1048
01:14:42,603 --> 01:14:45,022
You know when it all happened
1049
01:14:45,105 --> 01:14:48,942
you almost started to believe
that you did something bad.
1050
01:14:49,026 --> 01:14:50,944
Why should they do this to me?
1051
01:14:51,028 --> 01:14:54,364
I feel that it is my duty
1052
01:14:55,532 --> 01:14:59,661
make the world aware that
what happened then
1053
01:15:00,829 --> 01:15:03,457
I always felt that language would not be enough.
1054
01:15:05,042 --> 01:15:10,756
And when I wanted to tell
the story of my experience
1055
01:15:10,839 --> 01:15:14,384
I had to speak through an intermediary.
1056
01:15:15,135 --> 01:15:16,512
And I found art.
1057
01:15:17,179 --> 01:15:19,431
Because art is unlimited.
1058
01:15:19,515 --> 01:15:21,266
It is more than words.
1059
01:15:23,435 --> 01:15:26,688
I wanted the surface to be
multi-layered
1060
01:15:26,772 --> 01:15:29,191
It was supposed to look like a fallen wall,
1061
01:15:29,900 --> 01:15:33,737
as if it is covered with yesterday's newspapers.
1062
01:15:34,279 --> 01:15:36,782
Because people want to forget the past.
1063
01:15:36,865 --> 01:15:40,035
People tend to forget about the Holocaust.
1064
01:15:40,118 --> 01:15:42,871
What makes me live is...
1065
01:15:44,331 --> 01:15:45,624
my family
1066
01:15:47,334 --> 01:15:48,961
which my husband and I created.
1067
01:15:50,212 --> 01:15:51,588
My grandchildren.
1068
01:15:52,673 --> 01:15:54,174
Three wonderful children.
1069
01:15:55,008 --> 01:15:56,385
Two of them are rabbis.
1070
01:15:57,219 --> 01:15:59,221
And my beautiful daughter.
1071
01:15:59,763 --> 01:16:03,475
She teaches me every day
what is important in life
1072
01:16:05,811 --> 01:16:09,523
And my husband
a fourth-generation Israeli.
1073
01:16:10,023 --> 01:16:12,067
And a very gallant man.
1074
01:16:12,150 --> 01:16:15,487
He helped me build my life.
1075
01:16:16,530 --> 01:16:19,616
This picture is called "Work sets you free".
1076
01:16:20,242 --> 01:16:23,078
When you read this greeting at the gate,
1077
01:16:23,161 --> 01:16:27,082
so to speak, "Work sets you free"...
1078
01:16:27,165 --> 01:16:29,668
My art today is about the holocaust,
1079
01:16:29,751 --> 01:16:33,797
because I don't have
no memorial for my people.
1080
01:16:34,381 --> 01:16:37,759
I don't know where they are.
1081
01:16:38,510 --> 01:16:43,432
Why did so many of my relatives die
so many were killed.
1082
01:16:44,099 --> 01:16:46,435
The Bash family was almost completely exterminated.
1083
01:16:46,518 --> 01:16:47,978
We had to recover.
1084
01:16:49,938 --> 01:16:53,400
So when we get together
it's a pretty big group.
1085
01:16:54,943 --> 01:16:58,405
And what a joy
sit with your family
1086
01:16:58,488 --> 01:17:01,867
look around, say how close
I was to death
1087
01:17:02,534 --> 01:17:06,038
and here I am sitting at the table together
with 11, 12 relatives,
1088
01:17:06,121 --> 01:17:07,539
it's a celebration of life.
1089
01:17:07,623 --> 01:17:11,877
Enjoying life is an incredible thing.
1090
01:17:15,505 --> 01:17:19,051
One day, it was a Sunday,
someone knocked on my door
1091
01:17:19,134 --> 01:17:20,344
and entered...
1092
01:17:20,427 --> 01:17:22,012
And I went to the door
1093
01:17:22,095 --> 01:17:25,766
and they had something wrapped up
in a newspaper under his arm.
1094
01:17:25,849 --> 01:17:28,268
He said, "Are you Paul Parks?"
And I: "Yes."
1095
01:17:28,352 --> 01:17:31,104
He said: “I have been looking for you for several years.
1096
01:17:31,188 --> 01:17:33,398
From time to time, different people have searched for you.
1097
01:17:33,482 --> 01:17:35,817
We wanted to find you."
I said, "Why?"
1098
01:17:35,901 --> 01:17:41,698
He said: “There was a man like you
was released from Dachau, which did not forget you.
1099
01:17:42,616 --> 01:17:44,826
He died a few years ago.
1100
01:17:44,910 --> 01:17:47,954
He made a menorah in that camp.
1101
01:17:48,038 --> 01:17:50,374
He made it out of concrete nails,
1102
01:17:50,457 --> 01:17:54,753
boiled them and slept together
while he was in that camp.
1103
01:17:55,587 --> 01:17:58,298
And he wanted...
He wanted to give it to you.
1104
01:17:58,924 --> 01:18:02,010
That's why we were looking for you to give it away.
Here she is."
1105
01:18:02,094 --> 01:18:04,346
And he gave me this beautiful menorah.
1106
01:18:11,728 --> 01:18:14,439
Liberation was like a gift from the world.
1107
01:18:15,440 --> 01:18:18,902
And this is the first time I recognized God again,
1108
01:18:18,985 --> 01:18:22,072
recognized that He is near and
helped me survive.
1109
01:18:22,155 --> 01:18:25,659
I don't think God created the Holocaust.
1110
01:18:25,742 --> 01:18:31,873
I think God gave us a mind
heart and free will.
1111
01:18:32,749 --> 01:18:34,418
And it all depends on the person
1112
01:18:35,711 --> 01:18:38,296
what will she do with her life.
1113
01:18:39,840 --> 01:18:43,385
And I blame man, not God.
1114
01:18:43,468 --> 01:18:46,722
I can't rationally explain
1115
01:18:47,806 --> 01:18:51,351
emotionally or intellectually the Holocaust.
1116
01:18:52,227 --> 01:18:55,147
I can't find it
1117
01:18:55,856 --> 01:18:58,024
place for
1118
01:18:59,025 --> 01:19:00,318
the highest instance
1119
01:19:01,111 --> 01:19:02,237
in this horror.
1120
01:19:02,320 --> 01:19:03,947
What kind of people are we?
1121
01:19:04,823 --> 01:19:06,867
What do our books teach us?
1122
01:19:07,743 --> 01:19:10,954
What is the difference between me
1123
01:19:12,038 --> 01:19:13,331
and another child?
1124
01:19:13,415 --> 01:19:15,167
What does the Bible teach us?
1125
01:19:17,711 --> 01:19:20,464
What is it all about?
1126
01:19:23,049 --> 01:19:26,553
Hitler remained pathological
an anti-Semite to the very end.
1127
01:19:26,636 --> 01:19:28,930
And his last testament
1128
01:19:29,014 --> 01:19:31,725
or addressing his followers
1129
01:19:32,726 --> 01:19:36,480
was to continue the war against the Jews.
1130
01:19:36,563 --> 01:19:40,901
Written in his will
April 29, 1945,
1131
01:19:41,568 --> 01:19:42,986
he says: “Above all
1132
01:19:44,029 --> 01:19:47,657
I call on our government and people
1133
01:19:47,741 --> 01:19:51,161
adhere to racial laws to the end
1134
01:19:51,828 --> 01:19:54,956
and fight mercilessly
1135
01:19:55,665 --> 01:19:58,293
with the poisoner of all nations -
1136
01:19:59,294 --> 01:20:01,630
international Jewry".
1137
01:20:30,909 --> 01:20:34,871
CREMATORY #5
AUSCHWITZ II DEATH CAMP (BIRKENAU)
1138
01:20:35,372 --> 01:20:39,000
The Holocaust is worth considering
as just another chapter
1139
01:20:39,626 --> 01:20:43,296
in the long history of human inhumanity
regarding a person.
1140
01:20:45,715 --> 01:20:47,300
Cannot be ignored
1141
01:20:47,926 --> 01:20:49,427
all that discrimination,
1142
01:20:50,011 --> 01:20:52,389
which many peoples undergo
1143
01:20:52,472 --> 01:20:54,474
because of their race, color or creed.
1144
01:20:55,016 --> 01:20:57,060
Slavery cannot be ignored.
1145
01:20:57,143 --> 01:21:00,188
The burning of witches cannot be ignored.
1146
01:21:00,272 --> 01:21:03,984
You can't ignore murder
Christians in the Roman era.
1147
01:21:05,819 --> 01:21:08,697
The Holocaust is probably the culmination
1148
01:21:09,948 --> 01:21:12,868
this kind of horror that can happen,
1149
01:21:13,535 --> 01:21:18,331
when a person loses his decency,
1150
01:21:18,415 --> 01:21:21,459
his belief in the sanctity of human life.
1151
01:27:01,466 --> 01:27:06,471
Translation of subtitles: Vitaly Danmer