CZ4 Story of a Jewish lady

Narrator: A letter sent to Heike Knapova

When the war started I was 12 and my brother 7. My father was a butcher and my mother was running a bakery. With us was grandma, mum’s mother. She was a well-read lady. She taught us manners and modesty. When we dropped bread we had to pick it up and kiss it, so that god won’t become angry. She taught us a prayer: “My little guardian angel protect my little soul, protect it day and night against trouble and evil powers.” She was born Jewish. She had six children; each of them was married to a Christian.

Then the time came when the persecution of the Jews started. Therefore granny and mum had to wear a yellow star, which marked them as Jews. They were only allowed to shop or leave the house at a given time. People who talked to them were in danger to be punished.

In April 1942 she was deported to Theresienstadt (Terezin, CZ) together with 43 fellow Jews and her daughter and son. The latter were taken to Poland a short time later, where they were driven into a fenced court without any shelter. Later they were killed in gas chambers.

In 1944 my father was taken to a concentration camp, because he was married to a Jew and mum was taken to Prague. My brother and I had to stay by ourselves.

Once we went to Prague and with the help of some nice people we managed to go to the fence where mum was sweeping leaves. So we could see her and change a few words. Soon after that she was taken to Theresienstadt (Terezin, CZ).

At home the war front came closer. My brother was 12 now and I was 17. We were living alone. We could hear shots, thunder and planes. My brother was scared and cried. We saw a nearby town burning. We dug a big hole in the courtyard and put a wooden box into it. In it there was bed linen and various things.

After some days, it was Saturday April 28, I fetched some food stamps, and my brother was still sleeping. We stood near the town hall and there were also soldiers of the “front police”. Planes came and shots could be heard nearby. When that happened all of us ran home.
My brother was not at home, but I found him with friends. They invited us to stay in their bomb shelter. The air raids were going on and one of the bombs hit our house and it bunt down. We could stay with our friends.

On May 13, father came back home during the night. He came home and found a ruin. He kept asking for his children everywhere, finally he found us. In the afternoon a man came and told us that two ladies would come home from the concentration camp. We should go and get them. They were our mum and my auntie. That was a wonderful encounter.