rg stringlengths 14 17 | sequence int64 0 3.15k | text stringlengths 2 80.3k ⌀ | category stringclasses 2
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RG-50.030.0001 | 100 | So, you decided to get out of the city. Did you know people there? Were you neighbors still there? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 101 | In which city? | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 102 | The little city? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 103 | The people were still there, all of them, except those who were hurt by the bombs or those who escaped to Warsaw. There were more or less -- 1t was right after the war and they did not suffer too much. We suffered because we were orphans. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 104 | Nobody tried to take care of you? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 105 | It was just everyone for himself. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 106 | So what did you all do? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 107 | We got together the first night, my brothers and sisters, went back to Warsaw, and me and my little brother were left behind we could sell anything we had, and then we went to Warsaw. We all went to Warsaw. And of course, there was no place to be. It was already around December. Somehow my older brother, who was a uni... | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 108 | But this is the same -- | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 109 | I don't know. I knew him by the name of Adolf, because eventually I worked with him in Ghetto. They took us over across to place, at that time, and they separated my two little sisters. Also, at the place there was a place for girls and me and my younger brother over there. My older brother suffered probably , and I d... | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 110 | So, you went to the orphanage you think about December of '39? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 111 | It was close to January already. I'm sorry the exact dates I just don't know. I could know if I could concentrate. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 112 | What was the orphanage like? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 113 | It was a big building, many children over there. It was an organized like a government inside the orphanage. Each one had his own supposed to do certain things. They had a court, they had people older people who took care of the youngsters to see that they washed, they cleaned. There were people who had to make up the... | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 114 | Did they assign you certain jobs or duties? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 115 | We used to get jobs, you know, cleaning dishes. Cleaning . I don't remember. I don't recall, but I tried to get away from it because I was not used to the kids and them with the routines. To me it wasn't routine. It was like punishment. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 116 | Now, did you get punished by the court? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 117 | I was not punished, in fact they made me part of the court, because I was an older boy. Somehow, the regimentation down there, I wasn't too respected because I was fresh one, you know. But they tried to give me some responsibilities. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 118 | How many people were in the court? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 119 | I really can't recall, but I would say it was over a hundred. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 120 | Do you remember liking any of the staff or any relationships with them? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 121 | Oh yes, with the older ones. We had beds of 30 to 40 in a room, and we had to have friends at night. We tried to get into mischief. I know now, kids are mischievous. On the signal to go to sleep, we pretended we were going to sleep, but we used to talk a lot. I had friends. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 122 | What did you talk about? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 123 | Well, let me tell you, mostly child talk, because these children down there, they were raised differently. I was born, I mean I was raised and I spoke Yiddish quite a bit, but they spoke Polish only. Their vision of life was different because he taught them he really taught them discipline. They were schooled and scho... | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 124 | Were you going to school at that time? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 125 | Well, from what I know now, officially we're not supposed to have schooling. There was no schooling any more, no school outside, but inside there were certain people who worked there for years and they were teachers and they gave us lesson. I wouldn't say that I attended them, but I did. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 126 | What do you remember about the orphanage that you appreciated? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 127 | First of all the food. I appreciated the food because three times a day we were eating. It was just the beginning of the war. America was not at war then and they used to ship from Switzerland or from other areas, they used to ship food, so there was no scarcity of food, but I appreciated that because between the time... | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 128 | Any other good memories about the orphanage? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 129 | Yes, I had very good memories, very good memories, but I was bitter because I couldn't-- I think I was bitter because I couldn't imagine that I'll ever be an orphan at one time. I used to know orphans, you know either the father died, or the mother died and they put them in, but all of a sudden I had both gone, and wh... | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 130 | Did you spend time with your sisters and brother in the orphanage? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 131 | I used to see him not very often because all of a sudden, my older sister was very knowledgeable -- my younger sister. But the rest of them, they were very young, they got involved in playing, involved in the procedure of the place. They had little girlfriends. That's it. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 132 | So anything else you can remember about the original orphanage, the way it was run, the teachers, the cultural activities? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 133 | I already told you it was run like a government. This guy, I didn't see him very often I want you to know, but whenever I seen him, he was very lenient man. He if a kid was sick he would go by and pat him. He was very good, because I remember he even used to take out the excrement in the morning. He got up very early.... | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 134 | Any other memories of ? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 135 | Other than seeing them go out, we were waiting for him a lot of times. He was busy almost every day, going out and arranging for help. This orphanage was very organized. It was, I think at that time, it was even run by the Polish, by the city, but there were many, many orphanages at that time in Warsaw. I am going to ... | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 136 | Do you remember any of the in particular, Stephan? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 137 | Stephan, yes I saw her once in a while. An elderly lady who was very nice. That's all I know, and I used to ask her how my little sisters are. She said don't worry about them. They are fine. I used to come in and she's show me the little children were dancing. I think my little one forgot all about my parents. She was... | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 138 | How long were you in the orphanage? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 139 | The best that I can recall I would say almost two months. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 140 | Then what happened? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 141 | Then he organized, we must have organized it before, there was a place somewhere in Warsaw, in the Jewish district and they called that -- they took all the older boys down there all the freshly orphans which they took in, boys only, and they organized what they called a House of Boys, under their supervision, but the... | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 142 | What was the name of the Professor? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 143 | From what I remember, I did not remember, but my friend told me it was | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 144 | How many boys were at this House of Boys? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 145 | Eventually they took a lot of boys off the street, too, and I would think I would say between 70, around there, 80. My little brother could have stayed with him, but he didn't want to stay. He wanted to go with me. We were both there | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 146 | What was different from this orphanage from the other orphanage? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 147 | It was completely different. The task of this place was we should be more or less responsible even economically for everything. They used to send children like to barbers where they cleaned up. They used to send people to shoemakers they should help. They used to send people out, the little older boys, because they we... | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 148 | What kind of work did you do? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 149 | I did all kinds of jobs. My first job was I worked with very responsible people who were directing the food distribution for all orphanages in Warsaw. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 150 | Were these Jewish people. | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 151 | Jewish people, only in the Jewish district. I can't tell you when it happened, but I can tell you what happened, because we at that point, a Ghetto, I mean were all together. Jews were separated, not completely yet, but they were separated. And we used to go out to all kinds of work. I worked with this -- he liked me ... | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 152 | Do you want to tell me about your other jobs? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 153 | You keep asking me because the last job was the job where I could not come back to the orphanage anymore. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 154 | So, let's talk more about the orphanage. So, you remember, this orphanage were you accepted a little more or were you still --? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 155 | It was more responsible. We were older kids. We were reading newspapers. And I want you to know, it went like a university. In this orphanage you had the biggest I would say doctors, the Germans as a rule tried to kill whether they were Poles or Jews all the intelligent, all the professors, doctors and colleges, all o... | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 156 | You appreciated this? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 157 | Very much. I wouldn't miss those things. I couldn't understand you know, I used to go to public school and I didn't finish, so I couldn't understand how nicely the interpreter was. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 158 | Do you remember what street this orphanages was on? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 159 | Yes 1t was on Gesha 6. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 160 | Do you remember any particular professors who were here that you remember their names? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 161 | Those who were officially -- there was like people who worked there and they were also very educated people because they tried to -- you had to a lot of influence to get off the street of Warsaw and work in orphanages. But at that same time they had to have a certain amount of education. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 162 | I was just asking for the record were there any younger leaders or professors there that you can remember their names? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 163 | I really cannot recall names, but I know some of them didn't even give their real names because they were hiding. They didn't want to be killed by the Gestapo. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 164 | In the orphanages, either of them, did you observe the Sabbath and the Jewish holidays? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 165 | Why certainly, definitely. We were all Jewish kids and there was a chief rabbi down there. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 166 | Friday evening there were special ceremony. | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 167 | It was special. We maybe had a little more bread and we were singing the songs. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 168 | You rested on Saturday? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 169 | Not all of us. Those who had to work, and even some of them worked with the Germans outside the area and they had to go. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 170 | What was involved with in this orphanage. Did he come by? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 171 | He supervised and he came by I would say very often. He would stop by and check with the and he would recognize us. He would check to see with they guys who were running it. He felt that this was his responsibility, because a lot of them other than me they were also his kids who were brought up by him. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 172 | How long did you stay at the House for Boys? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 173 | I would say about a year and a half. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 174 | Your brother also? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 175 | My little brother, too. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 176 | Did you make good friends in this orphanage? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 177 | Oh yes. In fact, they used to bring new ones from the area, very nice educated kids, those who were qualified they brought into work. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 178 | Was there an effort, now that the war was on and everybody's motives were changed so much, that they let in a lot more people who's orphanages -- | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 179 | I don't know anything about before the war, but I'll tell you they did not they couldn't get into our place because the rooms, the area was very small and we had 30 40 people in a room. I don't think they could absorb more but they did not have a place for them. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 180 | Did you notice maybe that wanted to protect everyone who needed protection at the time so he opened more places? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 181 | I have heard at that time that he was very influential even with the city who was catholic, but they respected him and I think he did open a few more somewhere. If he didn't open officially, he took them off the streets. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 182 | I've heard some crazy stories about , he's a character. | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 183 | Well, I would compare him to a hippie, I want you to know. He never dressed, you know, and he wasn't really sophisticated. He was just like a hippie. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 184 | He seemed to be able to help people, get money and really accomplished something incredible. | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 185 | What they tried to do 1n this orphanage, they tried to make human beings out of us under the worst circumstances because inside we were like an island. Outside it was hell, a real hell. People were dying of starvation and even in the beginning they were dying of starvation, people some of their parents left for Russia... | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 186 | You said that you had other jobs? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 187 | Yes, and this was my downfall. I had other jobs where they used to send me I guess what happened is I wasn't strong enough to pull the buggy so they sent me they had other jobs, to send me to people in factories where they were making clothes. But my last job, that was my downfall. That was my downfall. They sent me t... | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 188 | Had you changed your name for the work card? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 189 | Why certainly, at that time my name was , with a W. I figured I can't keep my real name. I had to have a Polish name, a Christian Name, and they used to call me , So I didn't know what to do. Where do you go? Finally, they were asking, I went to another village. I already had a few dollars. The foreman gave me money. ... | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 190 | When we stopped, you were telling me about the priest who sort of recognized you but didn't acknowledge you. | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 191 | He was a very nice man. He never bothered me. I think he recognized me and I did some chores for him so I didn't have to go back to confessions. On a whole he was a heck of a nice man, because I used to go every other Sunday to him. And I worked on a farm, and I did anything people had to do on a farm and of course, s... | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 192 | Who and why were they shooting in the village? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 193 | What I'm trying to tell you is they had some kind --from what I know now, I didn't know then, there was a provocation, the underground, the Polish underground probably robbed or took a lot of food out of the trains which went to the front. So they brought some kind of punishment, a company of Ukrainian all kinds of re... | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 194 | What was the name of the village where the Jewish Ghetto was? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 195 | It's called Garbutka. | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 196 | Did you have any sense when this was? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 197 | It was somewhere around either July or August 1942. At that time, we heard, because I related that that they were killing older Jews, or killing all the Jews in Warsaw. That's how I remember that. Anyhow, that's was the event, and that's why I told you off camera about this girl, that woman who saved me is in Montreal... | answer |
RG-50.030.0001 | 198 | The woman in the basement? | question |
RG-50.030.0001 | 199 | The woman who helped me get into the basement. She had another sister who did not want me to get in there because they wanted to save their father. Anyhow I got out of this mayhem and I went to work for another -- I think 1t was again a smaller little farmer. I was afraid to go back. Eventually I went back to the camp... | answer |
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