Mió Arató

My grandmother was cooking on an iron stove and created really as many portion as many people were there. Not just the close family, it was sometimes 20 portions. We were really starving because in the basement people lose 10 kilos. But the starvation is not a bad memory for me because when you have nothing to eat you don’t really feel the deprivation. There was a lot of snow in the winter and we drank snow. A brave went up for a bucket of snow and we drank it. Once we got to the horsemeat, we could live well. I would even tell you how the shift came in the basement. Once a couple of Russian soldiers came to see if there was a German soldier. Then there was silence and two Russian officers came and my grandmother apparently learned from the great Russian novels that if they were happy to wait for someone, they were waiting with salt and bread. And my grandmother offered them and they spoke French all night. We didn't understand a stinking word. My grandparents, my mom, and the two Russian officers talked overnight. My sister received a pressed picture from one of them, on which it was written that "in the middle of the war, for a little Hungarian girl from Uncle Soldier." When they left in the morning they told the adults to hide us now because those who are coming now will not be like them.

We lived at the Krisztina Boulevard, Krisztina Boulevard 71 which is now 17. Near the castle, across the main post office which was a very bad sport regarding the siege. They lived near the Keleti Railway station. She said (her grandmother): “ Take Ribizli to Uncle Pali” - Ribizli was the nickname of the small girl. And we went and Ribizli was crying very much and said: “I don’t want to go these strangers, let’s find where my mother is instead.” Since her mother was hiding in a different place. She (the little girl) guided me to a different direction, I thought okay let’s go to that direction maybe she will calm down a little. I remember the way we went, next to the Vérmező. Later a German soldier came to us very gently and asked why the little girl is crying. I pretended as I did not understand him. We met no one on the way to Keleti and arrived to uncle Pali. Just as my grandmother thought they understood the situation and welcomed the little girl with the utmost kindness and she stayed there.