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EHRI document blog
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c5d88dbf-ba2d-4a78-8b02-4b5ebfb54a27
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Bibliography
Transcript also published in Peter Heumos, “Flüchtlingslager, Hilfsorganisationen, Juden im Niemandsland. Zur Flüchtlings- und Emigrationproblematik in der Tschechoslowakei im Herbst 1938,”<em> Bohemia</em> 25, no. 2 (1984): 272-275; almost complete Slovak translation (from Heumos’ article) published in Eduard Nižňanský,<em> Židovská komunita na Slovensku medzi československou parlamentou demokraciou a slovenským štátom v stredoeurópskom kontexte</em> (Prešov: Universum, 1999): 54-56.
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<p>Report by Mrs. <span>Marie Schmolka</span>, manageress of "<span>HICEM</span>" Prague on her visit to the camp at <span>Mischdorf</span> near Bratislava on November 27th, 1938, and other reports from No-Man's Land.</p>
<p>Between October 30th and November 10th, the Jews of <span>Bratislava</span> and other places (estimated at about 2,000) Czech citizens who lived in these places for decades, whose native congregation (Heimatsgemeinde) lay in Slovakian districts and now become Hungarian, Stateless people, one-time Poles, Russians, and German-Austrian refugees, were taken from their beds at night, scantily dressed, through the <span>Hlinka Guard</span>, and were brought in motor-buses to the district which went to Hungary.</p>
<p>At first, the refugees were received in <span>Kaschau</span> and in other villages, and the Jews resident there cared for them.</p>
<p>When the Hungarians occupied the district, they drove the deported Jews to the frontier to the No-Man's Land which thus arose - a space of about two kilometres - and which both armies of occupation left free until the final line of demarcation was agreed to.</p>
<p>As retaliation for the action of the Slovakians, the Hungarians also drove out those Jews from Hungarian districts whose native congregation finds itself in Slovakian territory, and also those who are Stateless. The greatest number of these Stateless people came into being because the poor Jews did not know the complicated citizenship laws, and especially because of the anti-Semitic practice of the authorities.</p>
<p>More than 300 refugees found themselves in an <span>open field</span> for one week, in a temperature which went as low as 2 degrees below zero during the daytime and till 5 degrees below zero at night. They built scanty huts and roofs from maize stalks and dug pits in which they placed their children (some of these children are only a few moths old). It is only ecause of the self-sacrificing assistance of the Jews of <span>Bratislava</span> which saved them from certain death through starvation and freezing.</p>
<p>The Slovakian population which, with the assistance of the German propaganda from the Vienna-Slovakian Wireless Station, is instigated the inhuman forms of German anti-Semitism, would have mercilessly allowed them to perish.</p>
<p>It is reported that the officials declared during an intervention with the police authorities "What do you want? There are enough mice there." The only help which the Jews of <span>Bratislava</span> got for the difficult relief work was through tze Czech military (the camp is about 20 kilometres from <span>Bratislava</span>).</p>
<p>It is to the great credit of one military commander that he allowed a woman, who the whole night long underwent the final pains in giving birth to a child, and through her agonised screams nearly drove the desperate refugees insane, to be brought to hospital on his own responsibility.</p>
<p>During the last week (the refugees now find themselves 14 days near <span>Mischdorf</span>), the Jews were able to provide four furniture vans in which those who are very ill could be bedded on straw and, for the others, low tents were erected, each tent accommodating 20 people, while others are still in the shelters formed of maize stalks. Until now they had to fetch water from a distance of about one kilometre, and only now a pump has been erected.</p>
<p>There is not one chair or table in the whole camp, most of the refugees pass the time by lying in the vans or in the tents in order to protect themselves from the cold.</p>
<p>Although the Jews of <span>Bratislava</span> brought clothing and blankets in large quantities, there are many cases of frostbite. The condition of health is obivously becoming worse daily; there is a doctor from <span>Vienna</span> in the camp who, although he has the possibility to cross the frontier, refueses to comply with the wishes of his family, because he will not desert his patients. Without his help the misery would be unimaginable.</p>
<p>The scene of the sick in the furniture vans is terrible. Lying side by side are cripples who are quite unable to move, a blind woman, one who is seriously ill with haemhorrage of the stomach, war invalids, people with high fever, tuberculous, sufferes from serious womens' complaints, etc.</p>
<p>When the doctor was asked as to where the people wash themselves, he replied that they have not yet washed themselves, and that he is the only one who does so.</p>
<p>Near the tents and in the open field, the ovens on which the food is prepared, and baskets of coal are to be found.</p>
<p>Among the refugees there are families with 5, 7 and 9 children. One comes to the visitor with the request to intervene on his behalf, so that the furniture van, which has been placed at his disposal by relatives to accommodate his family of 9 children and which he can see in the distance on the road, should be allowed to be brought to him, which till now, has been refused by the authorities. One widow, who has 9 children, of whom only 3 are in the camp, begs that the other 6 children, who remained behind in Bratislava, should also be brought to this camp because she fears that a still worse fate may await them. Another mother appeals to visitors to take her six weeks old child with them to save it from perishing; it is impossible to accede to her request because the frontier guards do not allow this. An old married couple, aged 60 and 65, who have lived in <span>Bratislava</span> 41 years and kept a small restaurant in the <span>Judengasse</span>, weep before visitors and say that they do not wish to emigrate but to return to their home.</p>
<p>The doctor has to fight, not only against the severe bodily illnesses, but also against cases of mass psychosis.</p>
<p>The greatest fear of the Jews of <span>Bratislava</span> is, that once the frontiers are finally decided, they will not be allowed to bring food to the refugees. It is forbidden to the Hungarian Jews to render any support. It is expected that Slovakia and Hungary will come to an agreement whereby each country should take its citizens, by which the fate of the Stateless people appears to be quite hopless.</p>
<p>Those assisting in <span>Bratislava</span> complain that several articles which they have brought to the refugees have disappeared from the camp because the refugees exchanged these articles with the neighbouring population for services, such as the forwarding of letters, which is forbidden.</p>
<p>We received a report that such a camp accommodating 470 people has been set up <span>near Nitra</span>.</p>
<p>I.</p>
<p>The Mährisch-Austrian frontier.</p>
<p>From <span>Lundenburg</span> and the surrounding villages, about 200 Jews who still lived there before the German occupation and before the assassination by Grünspan, which gave the excuse for further expulsions, were driven out. After weeks of wandering about in the forests and camping in the open air, permission was granted by the Czech Government to accommodate the persecuted people in a camp which was set up in a factory in <span>Ivancice</span> near <span>Brunn</span> by the Jews of that town. In order to set up this camp, money was placed at its disposal from the Lord Mayor's Fund.</p>
<p>II.</p>
<p>Refugees from the Western part, <span>Karlsbad</span> and <span>Marienbad</span>.</p>
<p>See enclosed report from <span>Pilsen</span>.</p>
<p>III.</p>
<p>North Bohemia.</p>
<p>From <span>Leipa</span>, <span>Komotau</span>, <span>Leitmeritz</span>, etc.</p>
<p>A group of 16 deportees, who live in ditches along the roads, find themselves near <span>Louny</span>, some of whom have already been brought into hospital. Every intervention on their behalf is unsuccessful. By the action of the Red Cross the refugees finally obtained tents and straw. We receive despairing enquiries from children whose parents are missing and are wandering about in the forests.</p>
<p>The first No-Man's-Land for Jews was the tug on the <span>River Donau</span>; on which 68 Jews from Burgenland were accommodated from April till September this year, and whom no State would permit to land. At that time, we pointed out in the report of that No-Man's Land that it is intolerable to admit the defamation of Jewry by German anti-Semitism that there should be another No-Man's-Land for the Jews, and that a solution must be found. The appeal and the plan, which was submitted and acted upon, resulted that these people have already found homes, principally in Palestine. Alas, it has proved itself a fact that things which are incomprehensible to the human imagination, i.e. that the Jewish question will be solved by a No-Man's Land, has not only penetrated into the decisions of Governments, but that also among the non-Jewish population, serves to satisfy their anti-Semitic feelings.</p>
<p>Plan for a solution</p>
<p>1. Intervention to be undertaken to both Governments in order that the Documents of Citizenship of the refugees should be examined, and that both States accept their own citizens.</p>
<p>2. Intervention to be undertaken to the Hungarian Government that barracks should be built on the territory now occupied by them so that the reminder of the refugees can be accommodated there.</p>
<p>3. The speedy carrying out of the emigration of those capable, especially the children.</p>
<p>4. Financial help for the erection of barracks and maintenance, which up to the present moment the <span>Bratislava</span> Jewish Congregation and others as <span>Louny</span> itself has had to bear.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In <span>Mähr. Ostrau</span> there are about seventeen hundred families of Polish origin now stateless expelled.</p>
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Dublin Core
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Report by Marie Schmolka on her visit to the refugee camp in Mischdorf, on November 27, 1938, and other expulsions of Jews
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Schmolka, Marie
Source
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USHMM, RG 59.006M, file 21588, copied from National archives, Kew, Foreign Office: General Correspondence, FO 371, file 21588
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1938-11-27
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English
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EHRI collection description: <a href="https://portal.ehri-project.eu/units/us-005578-irn509227">Foreign Office: General Correspondence, FO 371</a>
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Refugees
Refugee camps
HICEM
No Man's Land
Jewish refugees
Description
An account of the resource
The report dispatched to the Foreign Office by the UK Prague embassy contains information about Schmolka's visit to the refugee camp in Mischdorf in southern Slovakia. Schmolka also refers to other cases of refugees stranded on the new borders of Czechoslovakia.
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c5d88dbf-ba2d-4a78-8b02-4b5ebfb54a27
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Abs. Hans Frank, Brøderup Hojskole pr. Tappernoje, Sj. Danimarca
Empf. Robert Frank, Litzmannstadt Franzstrasse 21. Warthegau.
Lieber Papa! Liebe Mama! Brøderup Hojskole, 31. Mai 1942.
Mir geht es weiter ausgezeichnet und meine Gedanken weilen oft bei Euch. Von Onkel Edi, Tante Mimi und Frau Dr. Metzl, sowie von GrossmamaSchnitzer, Herbert und Trude habe ich immerfort zufriedenstellende Nachrichten. - Ich bereite mich weiterhin auf mein zukünftiges Leben vor. Ich habe viele Freunde, baue aber immer nur auf mir selbst. Allen Euren Ratschlägen folge ich weiterhin treu und hole mir viele weitere Philosophen. ich erweitere meine praktischen und theoretischen Landwirtschafts- und Sprachkenntnisse. -
Hier sind alle doppelt froh, dass nun der Sommer kommt, nachdem man einen so langen, strengen Winter erlebt hat. Dies ist ja auch bei Euch der Fall, nicht? Wie geht es Euch? Lönhardts? Anderen Verwandten & Bekannten mit denen Ihr in Kontakt seid?
Schreibt bald wiedermal! Seid Ihr alle gesund? Auch von Tante Liesl Neubauer habe ich gute Nachricht.
Weiterhin alles Gute, herzliche Grüsse und Küsse sendet Euch Euer Sohn Hansl.
Translation
send. Hans Frank, Brøderup Hojskole pr. Tappernoje, Sj. Danimarca
addr. Robert Frank, Litzmannstadt Franzstrasse 21. Warthegau.
Dear Papa! Dear Mama!
I am still doing really well and think of you often. I have had reassuring news of Uncle Edi, Auntie Mimi and Dr. Metzl as well as Grandma Schnitzer, Herbert and Trude. I am continuing to prepare myself for my future life. I have many friends, but I only rely on myself. I continue to follow all of your advice to the letter and gather new advice, both from practical life and many philosophers. I am developing my practical and theoretical agricultural and language knowledge.
Everyone here is really happy that the summer is coming, especially after the long, harsh winter we have had. This was also the case for you, wasn’t it? How are you? Lönhardts? Other relatives and acquaintances that you are in contact with? Please write back soon! Are you all healthy? I also had good news about Auntie Lisel Neubauer.
I’m sending you lots of love, best wishes and kisses.
Your son, Hansl
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Letter by Hans Frank addresses to his parents in the Łódź Ghetto
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Frank, Hans
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Archiv Židovského muzea v Praze (Archive of the Jewish Museum in Prague), Fond Osobní pozůstalosti (Personl papers), box 18 (Hans Frank), Letter by Hans Frank addresses to his parents in the Łódź Ghetto
Date
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1942-05-31
Language
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German
Type
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correspondence
Subject
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Refugees
Jewish refugees
Description
An account of the resource
Letter by Hans Frank from Denmark to his parents who were transported to the Łódź Ghetto, exchanging news about family members and telling his parents about his daily life in Denmark and his agricultural courses as a preparation for future Aliyah.
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Letter by Hans Frank addresses to his parents in the Łódź Ghetto can be found in the <a href="http://collections.jewishmuseum.cz/index.php/Detail/Object/Show/object_id/183012">online collection's catalogue of the Jewish Museum in Prague.</a>
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ba7352ac-7ba8-43c3-b56d-6824890a21de
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EHRI document blog
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English
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c5d88dbf-ba2d-4a78-8b02-4b5ebfb54a27
Person
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Birth Date
1923-11-11
Birthplace
Ustí nad Labem (Aussig a.d.Elbe)
Biographical Text
Hans Frank, born 11th November 1923, went with the help of the “Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom” to Denmark where he lived with the family Hansen. He also visited a Danish school there. Hans Frank later fled to Sweden and joined the British Army afterwards.
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Frank, Hans
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UUID
9b7945a3-89e2-4943-a5b6-41510912dc94
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EHRI document blog
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IIIF Collection Metadata
UUID
c5d88dbf-ba2d-4a78-8b02-4b5ebfb54a27
Person
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Birth Date
1885-02-25
Birthplace
Jablonec (Gablonz)
Death Date
1942-02-25
Occupation
clerk
Biographical Text
Robert Frank, father of Hans Frank, was living in Prague together with his family. On October 16th 1941 he was transported from Prague to Łódź Ghetto where he was murdered on February 25th 1942.
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Frank, Robert
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UUID
8906378b-07b9-48c8-9edf-cfe569cb56c0
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EHRI document blog
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c5d88dbf-ba2d-4a78-8b02-4b5ebfb54a27
Place
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Brøderup
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UUID
7c378785-9706-4b4f-a16f-a920e8c498f9
-
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c5d88dbf-ba2d-4a78-8b02-4b5ebfb54a27
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Between 1939 and 1944 parts of Lodz were turned into a Jewish Ghetto. More than 200,000 Jews went through the Lodz Ghetto, making it the second biggest ghetto after Warsaw. Between November 1941 and January 1942 an additional ghetto for 5,000 Roma and Sinti from Austria was established.
By the time the Nazis liquidated the ghetto in summer 1944 around 45,000 people had died there.
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Łódź
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UUID
9226cb94-ccc9-4182-9be1-8c9c30424b64
-
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English
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c5d88dbf-ba2d-4a78-8b02-4b5ebfb54a27
Person
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Birth Date
1907-06-25
Birthplace
Wien (Vídeň)
Biographical Text
Straussová, Valerie, née Kantorová, born 25th June 1907 in Viennna. In February 1942 she was deported to the Terezín (Theresienstadt) Ghetto and in October 1944 to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Afterwards she was sent to labour camp Schlesiersee (Sława), a subcamp of Gross-Rosen. She was one of the witnesses in the trial with Karl Rahm, the former commander of the Terezín (Theresienstadt) Ghetto. One of her testimonies was used for the purposes of the Nuremberg trial.
Occupation
Clerk
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Straussová, Valerie
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UUID
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EHRI document blog
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P r o t o k o l
sepsaný s Valerií Straussovou, roz. Kantorovou, nar. 25. 6. 1907, bývalým vězněm z koncentračních táborů Terezín, Osvětím, Schlesiersee, t.č. bytem v Praze XII., v[V] Horní s[S]stromce 5.
Já podepsaná Valerie Straussová, roz. Kantorová, nar. 25. 6. 1907 ve Vídni, dcera Evžena a Emilie Kantorových, československá občanka, bytem v Praze XII, v[V] Horní s[S]tromce 5. podávám po své návratu dne 13. července 1945 z různých koncentračních táborů toto pravdivé vylíčení svých osudů. Prohlašuji na svoji čest, že jsem nic nepřidala a nic nevymyslela.
Dne 12. 2. 1942 odjela jsem transportem do ghetta v Terezíně, kde jsem pobyla až do 4. 10. 1944. V Terezíně jsem pracovala v galanterní dílně, jako uklízečka v komandatuře, jako protokolantka v ambulanci a byla jsem též na dvouměsíční lesní práci v Křivoklátě. Můj muž byl v Terezíně zaměstnán jako hudebník v kavárně. Dne 28. září 1944 odjel z Terezína transportem. Řeklo se nám, že muži odjíždějí hodinu za Terezín na práci do Německa. O týden později jsem byla jako jeho žena povolána do transportu a odjela jsem v domněnce, že jedu za ním. Všechny ženy se tlačily jako divé do vlaku a každá byla šťastná, když se tam dostala. Jelo s námi též mnoho dětí. Když jsme se blížili k Drážďanům, chystali jsme se k vystupování. Jaké bylo však naše zklamání, když jsme Drážďany přejeli a viděli jsme, že jedeme na východ. Jeli jsme místo jedné, dvacet čtyři hodiny, až jsme stanuli ve stanici Osvětím. Tam museli jsme vystoupiti bez zavazadel a hned před vlakem nastalo třídění: ženy s dětmi a staří vpravo, my bezdětní vlevo. Tenkráte jsme ještě nevěděli, co to znamená vpravo (plynová komora). Byly jsme odvedeny do umýváren, kde nám byly odňaty všechny naše věci, které jsme měly na sobě, byly jsme ostříhány do hola, odvedeny pod sprchy a oblečeny do starých hadrů. Potom nastal všem již dobře známý, nervy trhající v koncentračním táboře. Po 5 dnech byly jsme znovu tříděny a odvedeny k vlaku. Dostaly jsme potom lepší hadry a byly jsme poslány na práci do Německa. Jely jsme do stanice S c h l e s i e r s e e v severovýchodním Slezsku, nedaleko polských hranic. Ze stanice šly jsme asi 2 hodiny pěšky a byly jsme umístěny na dvou statcích po 1.000 ženách. Ubytovaly nás do dvou velkých stodol na slámu. Hned příští den ráno dostaly jsme lopaty a rýče a šly jsme kopat zákopy proti tankům, 3 ½ metrů hluboké. Pro nás ženy to byla velmi těžká práce, jídla jsme dostávaly velmi málo, takže jsme záhy velmi zhubly. Koncem října najela mi jedna dívka při práci trakařem na nohu. Měla jsem malou odřeninu, které jsem nevěnovala pozornost. Za několik dnů mně však noha velmi rozbolela, opuchla a zv[vz]nikla malá flegmóna. Tato se zhoršila a lékařka mi musela ve stodole provést operativní zákrok. Vysoká horečka po incisi klesla, nemohla jsem však vůbec stoupnout na nohu a tři neděle jsem lezla po čtyřech. Jakmile mi bylo trochu lépe, musela jsem na domácí práce. Loupala jsem brambory. Ve 4 hodiny ráno jsem vstávala a do večera jsem musela loupat. Za dva dny jsem dostala 40 stupňů horečky, velké píchání na pravé straně na prsou, k[a]šel a lékařka konstatovala zápal plic. Jelikož zábaly ve studené stodole nebyly možné a medikamentů v táboře nebylo, byla jsem přenechaná osudu. Neměla jsem ležet. Seděla jsem tedy opřena o ledovou zeď stodoly v šatech (Pláště a boty byly nemocným odňaty pro zdravé). Přikrytá jsem byla erární přikrývkou. Po 10 dnech zápal plic jako zázrakem zmizel, zato ale se zhoršila rána na noze, která velmi hnisala. Asi 10. ledna byly nemocné přestěhovány do rychle postaveného dřevěného baráku. Před stěhováním musely jsme odevzdati vše, co jsme měly na sobě a umýti se, abychom do baráku nepřinesly vši, kterých jsme tehdy měly nadbytek. Do nového baráku šly jsme tedy úplně nahé a bylo nám slíbeno, že šaty po desinfekci zase dostaneme. Umytím jsme se vší ovšem nezbavily.
V baráku to bylo už mnohem lepší. Spaly jsme na palandách na slamnících, vždy dvě a dvě přikryté jednou dekou. Byla nám strašná zima. 22. ledna jsme slyšely, že fronta je vzdálená od nás jen 20 km. Mluvilo se o evakuaci. Nemocné ženy mají zůstat v táboře. Byly jsme šťastná a doufaly jsme, že nás Rusové brzy osvobodí. Těšily jsme se však příliš záhy. Asi v 7 h večer vešel německý komandant a nařídil evakuaci všech přítomných, i těžce nemocných. Situace byla zoufalá, protože jsme ležely všechny nahé. Nastala velká panika a každá se snažila opatřit si něco. Prosila jsem naši představenou o nějaké šaty, ale marně. V poslední chvíli darovala mi jedna z ošetřovatelek letní šatečky, které jsem navlékla na nahé tělo. Na nohy omotala jsem si kusy pokrývky, ačkoli to byla sabotáž a šťastnou náhodou ulovila jsem 2 pokrývky. Jednu uvázala jsem si do pasu jako sukni, druhou jsem si dala přes ramena. Dostala jsem taky dřeváky. Mnoho žen šlo na boso a omrzly jim nohy. Když jsme v[e]šly na dvůr, držely jsme se sotva na nohou. Byl velký mráz a mnoho sněhu. Na cestě nám dali jeden chléb, který byl určen na 3 dny. Pak nás seřadili do 5stupů a nastal pochod. Nemohla jsem jít, protože jsem před tím ležela skoro 10 neděl, Schupo mně však stále proháněl a hrozil zastřelením. Tak jsme pochodovaly celou noc až do příštího dne odpoledne. Na cestě mnoho z nás zemřelo nebo zmrzlo. Ve 3 hodiny příštího odpoledne přišly jsme k lesíku, 4 km před Ostweide. Komandant nařídil, všem nemocným, aby si sedli, že brzy přijede pro ně z Ostweide vůz. Zdravé pokračovaly v pochodu. Usedla jsem na okraj lesa do příkopu a byla jsem ráda, že nemusím dále. Věřila jsem, že vůz přijede, ačkoliv jiné tvrdily, že se stane něco jiného. Zůstalo nás tam asi 40 a lékařka, která si zapsala naše jména. Měly jsme s sebou taky 2 mrtvoly. Asi 60 m od kraje lesa kopali Schupo nějakou jámu. Domnívala jsem se, že je to pro naše 2 mrtvoly. Když se však setmělo a my jsme se už vzdaly, že vůz přijede, přiskočili 2 Schupo k nám, chytli asi 6 žen a hnali je voláním “arbeiten – arbeiten“ k jámě. Ženy křičely a chtěly utéci, v tom jsme však slyšely výstřely a pak ticho. Teď jsme věděly, že vůz nikde nepřijede a co nás čeká. Za chvíli přišli si Schupo pro dalších 6 obětí. Byla jsem ve 3. skupině. Smířila jsem se s osudem a byla jsem naprosto klidná. Schupo přišel ke mně, chytl mně za rameno a řval: “Komm.“ Řekla jsem mu: “Okamžik, dám jen chléb a pokrývku lékařce pro druhé, vždyť to už nebudu potřebovat.“ Odvětil mi, vida, že jsem zcela klidná: “To můžeš.“ Šla jsem tedy k lékařce, poděkovala jsem jí za práci, kterou měla s mým vyléčením a předala jsem jí zbytek chleba a pokrývku. Šla jsem pak klidně se svým vrahem k jámě. Tam leželo asi již 13 mrtvol. Posadil několik žen na vykopanou hlínu z jámy, mně a dvěma ženám rozkázal, abychom se obrátily k němu zády. Nejdříve zastřelil ženy u jámy a pak přišla řada na nás. Stále jsem uprostřed. Byla krásná měsíční noc. Hleděla jsem na měsíc a myslela jsem si: jaká škoda, že musím zemřít a nikdo se nedozví, co se v těchto místech stalo. Teď teprve jsem chápala, jak je krásné žít, přesto všechno, co jsme již prodělaly. Vtom výstřel a moje sousedka vpravo se skácela k zemi. Druhý výstřel a ucítila jsem prudkou bolest v šíji na pravé straně. Skácela jsem se k zemi, ani na moment ale nepozbyla vědomí. Bylo mi divné, že nejsme mrtvá a čekala jsem na smrt. Za chvíli ale jsem poznala, že výstřel nebyl smrtelný. Cítila jsem, jak krev mi teče z rány a položila jsem ruku rychle pod šíji. t[T]o trvalo okamžik. Mezitím byla sousedka na levé straně již zastřelena. Dostala jsem strašný strach, že budu za živa zakopána. Slyšela jsem rozmluvu dvou střílejících Schupo, kteří stáli těsně za mnou. Jejich rozmluva byla zajímavá. Jeden nás chtěl hodit ihned do jámy, druhý zase říkal, až budou všechny mrtvé, až ja[e] pak lékařka svlékne a hodí do jámy. „Těžce nemocné, které byly přivezeny na trakařích, umlátíme pažbou na trakaři“ říkal jeden Schupo. Po této rozmluvě se vzdálili od jámy, aby si od kraje lesa přivedli další oběti. Bez rozmyšlení jsem se obrátila a odlézala jsem po všech čtyřech dále do lesa. Myslela jsem, že je lépe, když po mně střelí ještě jednou, najdou-li mě, je to lepší, než být zahrabána za živa. Byla jasná noc a nalézali jsme se ve vysokém lese, takže jsem se nemohla dobře skrýt. Odlezla jsem jen několik metrů od jámy a kryla jsem se za strom. Teď teprve jsem byla rozčílené. Viděla jsem, jak Schupo žene k jámě další ženy. Slyšela jsem výstřely a poznala jsem, že měn vůbec nepostrádají, ba mně ani nehledají. Slyšela jsem, jak dokončovali své dílo, jak ženy svlékali, házeli do jámy a jámu zahazovali. Co se stalo s lékařkou jsem nevěděla. Pak jsem asi usnula, protože jsem neviděla jak odcházeli od jámy. Probudila jsem se a viděla jsem z dálky po silnici jít Schupo s trakaři, na kterých měli asi naložené šatstvo po zastřelených. Věděla jsem, že jsem zachráněná. Vydala jsem se na cestu. Obešla jsem jámu a přešla státní silnici, která vede ze Schlesiersee do Ostweide. Odpoledne jsem pozorovala, že jezdí protější silnicí od lesa německé tanky. Myslela jsem, že je tam fronta a že tam co nevidět potkám Rusy. Dala jsem se tedy touto silnicí. Šla jsem asi 10 minut, když jsem viděla na kraji silnice velkou hromadu slámy. Rozhrnula jsem slámu vlezla jsem do hromady a brzy jsem usnula. Byla jsem vyčerpaná. Celou minulou noc jsme pochodovaly, noha strašně bolela, k tomu ještě nová rána na šíji, která první den málo bolela. Spala jsem až do rána, pak jsem se vydala na cestu. Šla jsem krásnými lesy, podle tankových kolejí a nikoho jsem nepotkávala. Byla jsem strašně unavená, bála jsem se ale sednout si do sněhu, abych neusnula a neumrzla. K večeru jsem našla rozbořenou stodolu se slámou, ve které jsem přenocovala. Ráno jsem šla dále a teprve k poledni došla jsem úplně vyčerpaná do malé vísky. Šla jsem do prvního domku s prosbou, smím-li si tam os[d]počinout a ke své radosti jsem shledala, že jsem v Polsku. Dali mi jídlo a příští den se o mně postaral starosta. Šaty, které byly prosáklé krví jsme spálili a darovali mi teplé prádlo, šaty a přikrývky. Dostala jsem přidělenou místnost v domě, který[ou] Němci opustili. Polská děvčata mně zatopila v pokoji a nosila mi jídlo. Lékaře ve vesnici nebylo. Každý den chodila ale ke mně ošetřovatelka, která mi vyměňovala obvazy na noze a na šíji. Měla jsem velké bolesti, v noci jsem nemohla spát. 5 dní po mém příchodu do vesnice, t. j. týden po mém poranění přišli Rusové do vesnice a byla jsem konečně úplně os[vo]bozena. Týden později převezla mně polská ošetřovatelka do nemocnice ve Wolsteině. Měla jsem tedy 14 dní po mém postřelení první odbornou lékařskou pomoc. V nemocnici jsem se měla velmi dobře, rychle jsem se zotavovala a rány se mi hojily. 18. března převzali mně z nemocnice Rusové a odvezli mně do Schwiebusu, kde jsem pak pomáhala v nemocnici. Zůstala jsem pak ve službách ruského komanda, které jezdilo za bojující ruskou armádou. Po skončení vojny byla jsem ze služeb propuštěna a dopravena repatriačním výborem do Prahy v červenci.
V Praze jsem zjistila, že se mi nevrátil manžel, ani rodiče a ani s[es]tra s mužem. Vrátil se mi pouze bratr. Před svým odjezdem do Terezína pracovala jsem v kanceláři pojišťovny, kde hodlám zase pracovat.
Znám přesně místo popravy 40 žen a jsem ochotná toto místo příslušným orgánům ukázat.
Valerie Straussová
V Praze dne 23. července 1945
Protokol přijala:
Berta Gerzonová
Podpis svědků:
Marta Fischerová
Dita Saxlová
Za Dokumentační akci přijal:
Tresssler
Za archiv přijal:
Scheck
Translation
S t a t e m e n t
of Valerie Straussová, born July 25th, 1907, former prisoner of the concentration camps Theresienstadt, Auschwitz, Schlesiersee, currently living in Prague XII, in Horní stromka 5.
I, the undersigned Valerie Straussová, née Kantorová, born July 25th, 1907 in Vienna, daughter of Evžen and Emilíe Kantor, a Czechoslovak citizen, currently living in Prague XII, in Horní stromka 5, am submitting a true testimony of my fate shortly after my arrival from various concentration camps on July 13th, 1945. I declare and swear that everything stated herein is true.
On February 12th, 1942 I was deported to the Theresienstadt Ghetto, where I was imprisoned until December 4th, 1944. In Theresienstadt, I worked at the haberdashery workshop, as a cleaner for the SS command, as a typist at the hospital, and I was also sent for two months forced labor in Křivoklát (forced labor in the forest). My husband was employed in Theresienstadt as a musician in the coffeehouse. On September 28th, 1944 he was transported from Theresienstadt. We were told that our husbands were leaving for work; it was supposed to be in Germany, one hour away from Theresienstadt. A week later, I was called, as his wife, to a transport. I departed because I thought I would go to him. All the women wildly crowded around and each of them was happy when they succeeded in getting on the transport. Also, many children went with us. Near Dresden, we prepared to disembark. How big was our disappointment when we passed Dresden and saw that we were heading east. Instead of one hour, our journey took twenty-four hours, after which we came to the station of Auschwitz. There, we had to get off, without our luggage, and the selection process began directly in front of the train: women with children and elderly people went to the right, we, the childless, to the left. At the time, we didn’t know what it meant to be sent to the right (gas chamber). We were taken to the shower room, where all of the clothes we wore were taken away from us, our heads were shaved, we were taken under the showers, and dressed in old rags. Then, the soul-destroying life of the concentration camp, which we were already familiar with, began. Five days later, we underwent a new selection process and were taken to a train. We received better rags and were sent to forced labor to Germany. We were taken to the S c h l e s i e r s e e station in north-east Silesia, near the Polish border. We walked from the station for two hours and were placed in two farms, 1, 000 women in each. We stayed in two huge barns full of straw. The next morning, we were given shovels and spades and we had to dig trenches that were 3.5 meters deep. For us women it was very hard labor. We received very little food, and so we shortly lost a lot of weight. At the end of October, one of the girls ran over my foot with a wheelbarrow while we were working. I had a tiny scrape and didn’t pay any attention to it. After few days, my foot started to ache. It became swollen, and I got a small phlegmon. It got worse and the doctor had to perform an operation in the barn. Afterwards, my fever dropped, but I couldn’t stand on the foot at all and for the next three weeks I had to crawl around on all fours. Once I felt a bit better, I had to perform domestic chores. I peeled potatoes. I got up at 4 AM and all day long until the evening I had to peel potatoes. Two days later, I got a fever of 40 degrees. I felt a huge prickling on the right side of my chest, and I started coughing. The doctor told me that I had pneumonia. Due to the fact that it was impossible to apply the wet pack in the cold barn and that there were no medications in the camp, I was left alone to my fate. I was not allowed to lie down. So I sat in my clothes, leaning against the wall of the barn (coats and shoes were taken away from the sick and given to the healthy). I was covered with an issued blanket. After ten days, the pneumonia miraculously disappeared, but the wound on my foot got worse. It suppurated. Around January 10th, all of the sick people were moved into wooden barracks. Before we were moved, we had to give away everything that we wore and afterwards we washed ourselves so that we wouldn’t infect the barracks with lice. It meant that we taken to the new barracks completely naked and told that we would get new clothes after the disinfection. We didn’t get rid of the lice by washing.
In the barracks, it was much better. We slept on bunk beds with straw mattresses, two of us covered with one blanket. We felt terribly cold. On January 22nd, we heard that the battlefront was just twenty kilometers away. People were talking about evacuation. Sick women were to stay in the camp. We were happy and we hoped that the Russians would liberate us soon. But it was too soon to look forward to this. At approximately 7 PM, a German commander walked in and ordered the evacuation of the rest of the people, even those who were seriously ill. The situation was desperate because we were lying down, all of us naked. Everyone started to panic and each one tried to find something to put on. I asked our superior for some clothes, but it was in vain. At the last moment, one of the nurses gave me a summer dress, which I pulled on over my naked body. I wrapped my legs with pieces of blanket, even though it was sabotage. By a lucky coincidence I captured two blankets. I tied one around my waist like a skirt, the other I draped over my shoulders. I also took a pair of clogs. A lot of women went barefoot, and their legs suffered terrible frostbite. When we walked out to the courtyard, we were barely standing on our feet. It was freezing, and there was a lot of snow. We got one piece of bread for the journey, which was supposed to last us for three days. We were marshaled in lines of five and the march began. I wasn’t able to walk, because I had spent almost ten weeks lying down, but the Schutzpolizei forced me to walk the whole time and he threatened to shoot me. So we marched all night until the afternoon of the next day. A lot of us died or froze to death on the way. At 3 o'clock the next afternoon, we arrived near a forest, which was four kilometers before Ostweide. The commander ordered the sick to sit down, saying that soon a vehicle from Ostweide would come to pick them up. The healthy continued marching. I sat down at the edge of the forest next to a ditch and I was happy that I didn’t have to go any further. I believed that a vehicle would come, even though the others claimed that something else would happen. Around forty of us stayed as well as one doctor, who listed our names. There were also two corpses. About sixty meters away from the edge of the forest, the Schutzpolizei were digging a hole in the ground. I thought that the hole was for the corpse. When it got dark and we gave up hope of the vehicle ever coming, two Schutzpolizei came to us and grabbed about six women, shouting: “arbeiten - arbeiten” and forced them to go to the hole. The women were screaming and they wanted to escape, but the next moment we heard the sound of shooting and then silence. Now we knew that the vehicle would never come, and we knew what would be next. After a while, the Shutzpolizei came for the next six victims. I was in the third group. I was reconciled with my fate and I was absolutely calm. The Schutzpolizei came to me, grabbed my shoulder and shouted: “Komm.” I told him: “Just a moment, I will just give my bread and blanket to the doctor for the others, I will not need it anymore.” When he saw that I was absolutely calm, he said: “You can do that.” So I went to the doctor and thanked her for treating me and I gave her the rest of my bread and the blanket. Then, I walked calmly with my murderer up to the hole. There were approximately thirteen corpses laying in it. He told a few women to sit down on the mound of earth that was dug out from the hole. He ordered me and another two women to turn around. He first shot the women near the hole and then it was our turn. I was standing in the middle. It was a beautiful night and the moon was shining. I was looking at the moon and thought: It is such a pity that I have to die and nobody would ever find out what happened here. Just then I understood how beautiful it is to live, in spite of everything that we had gone through. I heard a shot and my neighbor on the right tumbled down. A second shot, and I felt an intense pain at the back of my neck. I tumbled down, but I didn’t lose consciousness, not even for a brief moment. It was strange that I wasn't dead, but I was waiting for death to come. In a moment, I found out that the shot wasn't fatal. I felt the blood flowing from the wound, and I quickly placed my hand on my neck. This lasted just a moment, while my neighbour on the left was shot dead. I became terrified that I would be buried alive. I heard the conversation of the two Schutzpolizisten who were standing straight behind me. Their conversation was interesting. One of them wanted to throw our bodies into the hole; the second wanted to wait till all of us were dead and then the doctor would take off our clothes and throw us into the hole. “Those who are severely ill, who were brought here on wheelbarrows, we will beat to death with rifle butts,” said one of the Schutzpolizisten. After this conversation, they went away from the hole to the edge of the forest to bring the next victims. Without thinking, I turned around and crawled away to the forest. If they found me, I thought it would be better if they shot me again than to be buried alive. The night was bright and the trees around me were tall, so I could not hide well. I crawled away, a few meters from the hole and I hid behind a tree. And then I became upset. I saw how the Schutzpolizei chased more women to the hole. I heard shooting and I realized that they weren’t looking for me at all. I heard how they were finishing up their work; they undressed the women and threw them in the hole, they put soil over their bodies. I didn't know what had happened to the doctor. I think that afterwards I must have fallen asleep, because I didn’t see how they left. I woke up and saw from a distance two Schutzpolizisten with wheelbarrows, which were filled with the clothes of those who were shot. I knew I was safe. I started my journey. I walked around the hole and went across the state road, which headed from Schlesiersee to Ostweide. In the afternoon, I spied German tanks on the road through the forest. I thought that there might be a battlefront and that I would meet the Russians soon, and so I went down this road. I had been walking for approximately ten minutes, when I saw a pile of straw beside the road. I hid in the pile and soon fell asleep. I was exhausted. We had marched throughout the entire previous night and my leg hurt terribly as did my wound on the back of my neck, which hadn't hurt as much during the first day. I slept till the next morning and then I continued on my journey. I walked through beautiful forests and didn't meet anyone. I was terribly tired, but I was afraid to sit down in the snow. I didn’t want to fall asleep and freeze to death. In the evening, I found a ruined barn with straw, in which I stayed overnight. In the morning, I walked on and by noon I reached a small village. I entered the first house I met and I asked whether I could rest there. To my relief, I found out that I was in Poland. They gave me food, and the next day the mayor of the village looked after me. We burned my dress, which was soaked with blood. They gave me warm clothing, a dress, and blankets. They gave me a room in the house, which was vacated by the Germans. The Polish girls got a fire going and brought me food. There was no doctor in the village. Every day a nurse came to visit, and she changed the bandages on my leg and neck. The pain was so great that I couldn't sleep at night. Five days after my arrival in the village, i.e. one week after my injury, the Russians arrived in the village and I was finally liberated. One week later, the Polish nurse took me to a hospital in Wolstein. And so fourteen days after I was injured, I received my first medical aid. In the hospital I felt well, I was recovering quickly and the wounds were healing. On March 18th, the Russians took me from the hospital to Schwiebus, where I helped out in the hospital. Then I stayed to serve the Russians, in a group that was assisting the Russian soldiers. After the end of the war, I was released from service, and in July I returned to Prague, thanks to the repatriation committee.
In Prague, I found out that my husband didn't return, nor did my parents, nor my sister with her husband. Only my brother came back. Before my deportation to Theresienstadt, I worked in an insurance office, which I plan to continue.
I know the exact location of the place where forty women were executed and I am willing to show this place to the authorities.
Valerie Straussová
Prague, July 23rd, 1945
The statement was accepted by:
Berta Gerzonová
Signatures of witnesses:
Marta Fischerová
Dita Saxlová
On behalf of the Documentation Campaign (Dokumentační akce):
Tressler
On behalf of the archives:
Scheck
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Testimony of Valerie Straussová
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Valerie Straussová
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Jewish Museum in Prague, Documenents of persecution, box 76 inventory number 80 (Memoirs, and literary and expert accounts of the persecution period, written after the war)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1945-07-23
Language
A language of the resource
Czech
Type
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Testimony
Subject
The topic of the resource
Testimony
Forced labor
Labor camps
Concentration camps
Living conditions in camps
Dokumentační akce (Dokumentation project)
Death marches
liquidation
Relation
A related resource
EHRI collection description: <a href="https://portal.ehri-project.eu/units/cz-002279-collection_jmp_shoah_dp#desc-eng-collection_jmp_shoah_dp">Documents of Persecution</a><br /><br />Testimony of Valerie Straussová can be found in <a href="http://collections.jewishmuseum.cz/index.php/Detail/Object/Show/object_id/3758">the online collection´s catalogue of the Jewish Museum in Prague</a>.
IIIF Item Metadata
UUID
3d04bf2c-cc2a-4dd7-b8d8-1779ccc6792e
-
https://ehri-visualisations.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/original/7e8fb4568b59af3415ffc657b83a2436.pdf
50d695686ddc914e1c605eed438af266
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
EHRI document blog
Description
An account of the resource
This is a virtual collection containing items used in the <a href="https://blog.ehri-project.eu/">EHRI document blog</a>.
Language
A language of the resource
English
IIIF Collection Metadata
UUID
c5d88dbf-ba2d-4a78-8b02-4b5ebfb54a27
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Text
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Dvůr. Král. n.L., dne 28. 7. 1938<br /><br />Opis.<br /><br />P.T.<br /><br />Kancelář presidenta republiky<br />Praha<br /><br />Pane presidente.<br /><br />Před týdnem jsem se doslechl, že ve vlečňáku na Dunaji jsou ještě stále vyhnanci z Rakouska. Jelikož jsem nechtěl věřiti, že tomu skutečně tak jest, přesvědčil jsem se osobně na místě samém o této hanbě lidstva.<br /><br />Není mi možno popsati situaci lidí, na Dunaji se nalézajících, poněvadž trpkost, že svět to vše trpí, mi svírá srdce i ústa.<br /><br />Vzhledem k tomu, že dva dny přede mnou dlela na témže vlečňáku pí Marie Schmolková z Prahy I., Kamzíkova 3, zasílám Vám v příloze výtah z její zprávy.<br /><br />Jewish-Agency-Hicem v Praze V., Jáchymova 3 snaží se umístit tyto ubožáky částečně v Americe, Palestině a Rumunsku, staré lidi z části zde v republice a v Uhersku. Než veškeré formality se provedou, uplyne doba několika měsíců.<br /><br />Prosím Vás, pane presidente, abyste těmto chudákám - v případě, že by jim nemohlo býti dáno přechodné visum pro pobyt v republice - umožnil alespoň jejich umístění ve střeženém táboře. Umístěním těchto vyhnanců ve střeženém táboře by se Ministerstvo vnitra nikterak neprejudikovalo a co se týče výloh spojených s jejich živobytím, postaral bych se o to, aby byly hraženy souvěrci těchto ubohých lidí.<br /><br />Vaše moudrost, pane presidente, zajisté najde cesty schůdné, aby tito lidé z pekla - ve kterém se nyní nalézají - byli vysvobozeni.<br /><br />S výrazem hluboké úcty:<br />Pavel Deutsch v.r.<br /><br />Pavel Deutsch,<br />Dvůr Král. n. L.<br /><br /><br /><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Opis.</span><br /><br />(Výtah ze zprávy pí Marie Schomokové, Praha I., Kamzíkova 3., o jejím pobytu na vlečňáku rakouských uprchlíků na Dunaji.)<br /><br />Dne 16. dubna t. r. byli židovští obyvatelé Kittsee a Pamy v Rakousku vyhnáni ze svých bytů a oloupeni o všechen svůj majetek, jakož i o průkazy osobní.<br /><br />V noci byli dopraveni na malý ostrov v Dunaji, náležející československému státu.<br /><br />Dne 17. dubna byli tito vyhnanci nalezeni čsl. pohraniční stráží a dopraveni do Bratislavy. Týž den byli však z čsl. republiky vykázáni a znovu dopraveni na německé hranice. Na malém kousku půdy, nalézajícím se mezi hranicemi Československa, Maďarska a Rakouska, ztrávili [!] tito ubožáci tři dny a noci za perného chladna, bez přístřeší a z poloviny vyhladovělí, mezi bodáky pohraničních stráží všech tří zemí, na které nesměli vkročiti.<br /><br />Část z nich, 17 osob, vrátila se zpět do Kittsee, kde byli starci a děti uzavřeni do sklepa, dospělým ženám a mužům byly přiděleny těžké čistící práce.<br /><br />Několikadenním putováním vyčerpaní lidé byli bitím donucováni k pracím, když jejich síly ochably. V noci byli po 30 km pochodu dopraveni znovu na českosl. hranice.<br /><br />Židé z Bratislavy našli konečně přechodné východisko. Najali vlečňák, který přistál na maďarském břehu Dunaje a všech 68 pronásledovaných lidí, dělníkem počínaje a vinařem - velkoobchodníkem konče, s pětiletými dětmi a až osmdesátiletými starci, bylo na něm umístněno.<br /><br />Žádná ze zemí, ležících na březích Dunaje, nebyla ochotna nechati vyhnanecký vlečňák přistáti. Maďarsko, ve víře, že židovské organisace umožní vystěhování svých členů do zámoří, povolení stále prodlužovalo.<br /><br />Téměř 3 měsíce žijí tito zoufalí lidé, které nechce žádná země přijmouti a jimž se i pobyt na vlečňáku zakazuje, v naději na záchranu.<br /><br />V této době byly učiněny pokusy v různých zámořských státech k nalezení vhodného sídla k vystěhování. Mimo vystěhování několika vyhnanců do Spojených států amerických, které spočívalo na legálních předpokladech, nepodařilo se umožniti vystěhování většiny, která požadavkům zámořských států v různých ohledech neodpovídá. Tato většina mohla by se umístiti jedině v židovském společenství.<br /><br />S těmito myšlenkami navštívili jsme s p. Schlomo Lipski dne 10. července vyhnance na dunajském vlečňáku. Viděli jsme jejich nevyjádřitelná duševní muka, zvýšená fysickým strápením, způsobeným pobytem v malých skladištních místnostech vlečňáku prolezlých krysami, nebo na palubě vlečňáku, vystavené zrovna tak nečasu, jako parnému slunci.<br /><br />Část uprchlíků, t. j. 4 starci a nemocní buou přechodně ubytováni v Bratislavě, 10 lidí obdrželo certifikáty do Ameriky, takže dnešní stav vyhnanců na vlečňáku jest asi 49 osob.
Translation
Dvůr Král. n.L, 28th of July 1938<br /><br />Transcript<br /><br />P.T.<br /><br />Office of the President of the Republic<br />Prague<br /><br /><br />Dear Mr. President,<br /><br />a week ago I learnt that there are still people expelled from Austria on a tugboat on the Danube. As I didn’t want to believe that this could actually be the case, I have personally visited to ascertain for myself about this disgrace for mankind.<br /><br />It is impossible for me to describe the situation of the people located on the Danube, since a bitterness that the world tolerates all this seals my heart and my mouth.<br /><br />Given the fact, that two days before I visited, Marie Schmolková from Prague 1, Kamzíkova 3, found herself on this tugboat, I send you enclosed an excerpt from her report.<br /><br />The Jewish-Agency-Hicem in Prague 5, Jáchymova 3 is trying to relocate these poor people partially to America, Palestine und Romania and the old people partly here in the Republic and in Hungary. It will be several months until all formalities will be dealt with.<br /><br />I beg you, Mr. President, to enable these poor people - if it isn’t possible to provide them with a temporary visa – to staly at least in a guarded camp. Housing them in such a guarded camp wouldn’t create any precedent for the Ministry for the Interior and regarding any costs incurred, I will take care that these are covered by the coreligionists of these poor people provide. <br /><br />In your wisdom, Mr. President, I’m sure you’ll find a way to rescue these people from the Hell they currently find themselves in. <br /><br /><br />With the greatest of respect, <br />Pavel Deutsch v.r.<br /><br />Pavel Deutsch <br />Dvůr Král n.L <br /><br /><br /><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Copy</span><br /><br />(Excerpt from the report of Ms. Maria Schmolková, Prague I., Kamzíkova 3., on her visit of the Austrian refugees on a tugboat on the Danube.)<br /><br />On April 16th of this year, the Jewish inhabitants of Kittsee and Pama in Austria were expelled from their homes and robbed of all their possessions as well as their certificates of identity. <br /><br />In the night they were brought to a small island at the Danube that belongs to the Czechoslovak state.<br /><br />On the 17th of April these displaced people were discovered by the Czechoslovak border guard and brought to Bratislava. However, on the same day they were expelled from the Czechoslovak Republic and again brought to the German border. Those poor people spent three days and nights on a small piece of land situated between the borders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Austria in bitter cold, without shelter and half-famished, between the bayonets of the border guards of all three countries in which they couldn’t enter.<br /><br />Some of them, 17 people, returned to Kittsee, where the elderly and the children were jailed in a cellar and the men and women were assigned heavy cleaning work.<br /><br />The people, who were exhausted after the days-long wandering, were beaten and forced to work until they couldn’t anymore. They were brought overnight – after a 30 km long march – to the Czechoslovak border. <br /><br />The Jews from Bratislava have finally found a temporary solution. They have rented a tugboat which is moored on the Hungarian side of the Danube and all 68 of the displaced persons – ranging from the labourers to a wine merchant and from five years old to 80 years old – were placed there. <br /><br />None of the countries along the Danube wanted to allow the tugboat to dock. Hungary, in the belief that the Jewish organisation arrange for the emigration of the people overseas, kept postponing its permission.<br /><br />For almost three months, these desperate people, who no country wishes to accept and who are also prohibited to stay on the tugboat, have been living in hope of rescue.<br /><br />During this time, various attempts have been made to find a suitable place overseas where these people might emigrate. Apart from a few cases of people departing for the USA – based on [pre-existing] legal basis – it has not been possible to arrange for emigration of the majority which doesn’t fulfil the various conditions of the countries overseas. This majority can only be relocated within a Jewish society [společenství]. <br /><br />With this in mind, together with Mr. Schlomo Lipski, we visited the dispossessed persons on the Danube tugboat on the 10th July. We have seen their indescribable spiritual suffering, increased by their physical suffering caused by the stay in small storage rooms of the towboat riddled by rats, or on the deck exposed to foul weather, as well as to sweltering sun.<br /><br />Four of the elderly and sick refugees will be temporarily accommodated in Bratislava and 10 people have received certificates for America, which means that the current number of refugees aboard the tugboat is 49 persons.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Report by Marie Schmolka about her visit to Jews expelled from Burgenland who had to live on a ship anchored at the Danube, July 1938
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Schmolka, Marie
Deutsch, Pavel
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Národní archiv (National archive), Prague, Presidium Ministerstvo vnitra I (225, the Presidium of the Ministry of Interior), 1936-1940, call number X/R/3/2 (225-1186-16), box 1186, fol. 134-135.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1938-07
Relation
A related resource
EHRI collection description: <a href="https://portal.ehri-project.eu//units/cz-002286-1075">Ministerstvo vnitra I., Praha<br /></a> <br />An English translation of the report which partly differs from the Czech excerpt can be <a href="http://search.archives.jdc.org/notebook.asp?lang=ENG&dlang=ENG&module=search&page=site_list&rsvr=&param=%3Crsvr_ser%3E@@2%3C/%3E%3Cdlang%3EENG%3C/%3E%3Cquery_name%3Eideanet-app_2268_530971%3C/%3E%3Cquantity%3E15%3C/%3E%3Cstart_entry%3E1%3C/%3E%3Cnum_of_items%3E13%3C/%3E%3Cquery_index%3E@global%3C/%3E%3Cthumb%3E0%3C/%3E%3Cnob%3E1%3C/%3E%3Csmode%3Edts%3C/%3E%3Cfirst_item%3E1%3C/%3E%3Cbook_id%3E453499%3C/%3E%3Cview%3Erecords%3C/%3E%3Cwords%3Eschmolka@@n%3C/%3E&param2=&site=ideaalm">found in the JDC Archives</a>.
Language
A language of the resource
Czech
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
POINT(1916964.2320969 6111511.5031197)|9|1916734.9210121|6108406.2488461|osm
Description
An account of the resource
The excerpt of this report by Marie Schmolka, director of Czechoslovak HICEM, is enclosed in a letter sent by Pavel Deutsch, a concerned Czechoslovak citizen living in Dvůr Králové, to the president Edvard Beneš appealing to him to allow at least a temporary residence of the Burgenland refugees in a guarded camp on the Czechoslovak territory. The letter ended, without any reaction, in the fonds of the Czechoslovak Ministry of Interior.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Refugees
Jewish refugees
Refugee camps
No Man's Land
HICEM
IIIF Item Metadata
UUID
bae313e5-922f-4738-8470-a08bdaeff75d
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https://ehri-visualisations.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/original/f79ff93f0e2fb160e7ad94ed3c97921d.jpg
1328533e519dc9dcd34b174ab464096e
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
EHRI document blog
Description
An account of the resource
This is a virtual collection containing items used in the <a href="https://blog.ehri-project.eu/">EHRI document blog</a>.
Language
A language of the resource
English
IIIF Collection Metadata
UUID
c5d88dbf-ba2d-4a78-8b02-4b5ebfb54a27
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Text
Any textual data included in the document
Lillerød, den 1. Juli 1943.
Lieber Hans,
Soeben erhielt ich Deine Karte und beeile mich die Antwort zu ekspedieren. Deine Karte wurde mir durch Frau Oppenhejm, sowie Frau Zeuthen nachgeschickt. Nachdem ich eine Haushaltsschule besucht habe, bin ich jetzt Koch, Herrschaftsdiener, Sekretaer und Gaertner bei einem Dichter Sigfred Pedersen, auf einem Landejendom in Hammersholt bei Lillerød, an der Bahnstrecke Kbh. Hillerød. Meine Leute sind seid Montag auf Fyn, und kommen Anfang naechster Woche zurueck. Komme mich unbedingt besuchen, pr. Rad od. Bahn, bevor meine Leute zurück sind. Du kannst hier wohnen. Rufe mich sofort an: 12-13 od. 18-19: Allerød 213. Komme diese Woche und bleibe evt. auch die naechste hier.
Wir können Fredborg Slot, Kronborg, die Gegend + Kbh. besuchen.
Entschuldige, dass ich schon so lange nicht geschrieben habe, doch will ich es wieder gut machen. Gebe mir sofort Bescheid. Herzl. Grüsse, Walter
Translation
Dear Hans,
Lillerød, 1st July 1943
I just received your card and am rushing to dispatch this reply. Your card was sent to me via Mrs Oppenhejm and Mrs Zeuthen.
As I went to a domestic science school, I am now the cook, butler, secretary and gardener for the poet, Sigfred Pederson, at his farm in Hammersholt near Lillerød, on the railway line KBH. -Hillerød. My people have been on Fyn since Monday and won’t be back until the beginning of next week. You must come and visit, by bike or by train before they come back. You can stay here. Call me immediately: 12-13 or 18-19: Allerød 213. Come this week and perhaps stay until next week.
We can visit the Fredborg Slot, Kronborg, Fredyborg, the area and Kbh. together.
Forgive me that I have not written in so long, but I want to make it up to you. Let me know immediately.
Best wishes, Walter
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter by Walter Bloch from Lillerod addressed to Hans Frank
Subject
The topic of the resource
Refugees
Jewish Refugees
Kindertransports (Rescue operations)
Correspondence
Description
An account of the resource
Personal letter by Walter Bloch who came with a group of 80 young people on a Kindertransport to Denmark to his friend Hans Frank, exchanging news about the daily life in Denmark.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Bloch, Walter
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Archiv Židovského muzea v Praze (Archive of the Jewish Museum in Prague), Fond Osobní pozůstalosti (Personal papers), box 18 (Hans Frank), letter by Walter Bloch from Lillerod addressed to Hans Frank
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-07-01
Language
A language of the resource
German
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Correspondence
Relation
A related resource
Letter by Walter Bloch from Lillerod addressed to Hans Frank can be found in the <a href="http://collections.jewishmuseum.cz/index.php/Detail/Object/Show/object_id/183006">online collection's catalogue of the Jewish Museum in Prague</a>
IIIF Item Metadata
UUID
ef599b92-9d92-40ca-99e4-bdddb20a9bae