Viola Fischerová

“After coming to that Auschwitz they cut off our hair. I had very nice and long hair. They cut off our hair, took everything from us, unclothed us and they gave us another clothes, I got a dinner gown. An ambulance used to go there to repair teeth. However, they didn’t do that. They only looked into the mouth of prisoners and if they saw a golden tooth, they got it out.”

“When I saw that it was possible, I had organized [the escape] with other seven women. I knew that after crossing the river dogs wouldn’t sniff us out. There was a little stream. And we really crossed it. And we finally got to Austria.”

“They made cattle cars available and herded us into them. There were almost hundred people in one car and they gave us just two buckets. We had one for water and another one for ordure. As I was the youngest, I was assigned to empty the bucket with ordure out of the window. And I really did it, but the wind blew all that sewage into my face. That was what I looked like. Nobody would recognize me at all. Sometimes they opened the car and the bolder ones went out for water. But there was only death awaiting them.”

“Every day I had to kneel on the rocks and hold up a brick in my hands. It took the whole day. And now I am a beggar. Then we were transferred to one empty place where was a bonfire. And there three thousand Gypsies were burnt to death. And we had to watch it. It was dreadful. After coming back to camp, Granny [the guard] said: “Look out of the window, can you see that huge fume? Your beloveds are now being burnt there and tomorrow you will wash yourselves with the soap made of them.” And it really became the truth.”

“And so we travelled. We asked them where we were going and they just told us we went to work. Though, everybody knew we went to a slaughterhouse. As they pushed us into those cars, they put a board there because there were no stairs, so they herded us over that board. My mammy couldn’t get there and fell down, they lifted her up, and finally she hardly came there. We came to Auschwitz camp and it was written there “Arbeit macht frei” (Work sets you free). But it wasn’t true.”

“They gave us another clothing, bright one, and sent us to the gas chamber. They exposed us to hot air, so we sweated profusely and then they ran us out to coal and cold. We struggled there and when we caught a cold, they sent us back to that crematory. To that gas chamber.”

“They drove us out of the car and sorted us out. Doctor Mengele did it. He stood next to the ramp, had an SS uniform, black gloves, white coat, SS cap, barrier went up and he pointed. Left or right. Without any problem. He asked nobody. I was sent to the side of death, but then he looked at me and called me back. I went with my mammy, he asked me how old I was and when I answered, he hit my mammy who fell down and was tumbling on the floor. Then he sent me to the side of life. And now, unfortunately, I am here and I won’t find my place because it still haunts me. I cannot find peace of my mind.”

“When Army Groups drew near and a lot of air attacks occurred, Germans, of course, ran away. They closed the factory and awaited the time when they would bomb out and liquidate us. And they left us in the cellar where we sat in the water for many hours. I escaped also from that place, but afterwards, our naked bodies were beaten again with thin sticks. I was absolutely hopeless, so I wanted to throw myself under the train.”