The story of Gizela - Afik Shiraz. Abinun Shmuel

probably with the aim of coming to Israel, and who were held by the Germans for exchange of future prisoners – Germans against Englishmen. Thanks to this group, the first week of our stay in the camp, we were given relatively good meals based on white bread and noodles, because the English insisted their prisoners will receive good treatment. It longed few days only, but after the severe hunger in Podgorica and in Sajmishte I felt as if I had been accepted real birthday gift. Although only a fence separated between us, I could not speak to them, because that they spoke Yiddish and I hardly spoke German, but my parents, who knew German, talked to them, and the first time heard about the systematic murder of Jews in Poland and about the extermination camps. We, the kids, were told a softened version of the situation, but I managed to put together the full picture from pieces of sentences, that I collected here and there when the adults talked between them. About two weeks later we arrived, we were moved inside the camp. Because Bergen-Belsen was not customary to separate families, we had the privilege of staying all together - men and women, adults and children together. From my family were my parents, sister, grandmother, uncle and cousins. We could seek comfort from one another, and communicate with the other prisoners, who lived with us and who spoke the same language. All the barracks in the camp were distributed similarly - the Greek shack, the Dutch shack and so on. Also in orders we stood Yugoslavs with Yugoslavs and Greeks with Greeks. Like in Sajmishte, even here the beds were arranged one above the other - two, three and even four beds. Who could not go up the upper beds slept in the lower ones. At start one person in a bed, however, with the addition of other prisoners we had to sleep two in a bed. I don't remember feeling fear or sadness while staying in the camp. Majority emotions froze in this place. The only emotion I felt there was great anger; I used to curse the guards just under their noses, such curses as I am ashamed to repeat today, without them understand. I would send them to where they came from. I cursed God, Santa Maria, St. Mary, and all Saints. I almost don't remember any German overseers or commanders who saw us as human beings or have demonstrated any humanity towards us. The only word what we heard from them was, "Los, Los, Los" - fast, fast, fast! - And it remained engraved in my mind to this day. We all quickly realized that life in the camp would not be life. Every morning we had to get up at five and appear in fives to the order, that could last for hours and hours. There was some light in the summer months, but in winter it was still darkness when we woke up. In one of the orders I slightly exceeded the line and the overseer Capo, who was Polish or Ukrainian named Kazimir, quickly hit his rifle butt at the top of my arm. It was so strong blow and to this day I suffer from the pain in same place. In contrast, I was not afraid of the Jewish capo. His name was Albala and he was a Greek Jew, who ruled many languages, and his main job was the translation of instructions.

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