Mr. Yitzchok Wargon – Part IV

Your family perished in the concentration camps. You were sent as a slave laborer to work in an ammunitions factory, where your uncle was murdered.  What happened to you there?

In the spring of 1943, I didn’t think I could survive any longer. People who remember me from then can’t believe that I came back alive.  I was a skeleton — skin and bones.

Each morning at six a.m. we had to stand to be counted. One day, I couldn’t control my emotions. I just couldn’t continue on in this manner; I was ready to give up. I decided that I wasn’t going out to be counted. I climbed up to my bunk and covered myself.  The Jewish kapos were running around trying to find the “lazy” people who did not show up to work. When the kapo came into my room, he immediately spotted me. He grabbed me by the leg and pulled me down.  Nine of us “lazy” people were found and we were lined up against the gate.

Suddenly, the gate opened up and four Gestapo men from Radom came through.  To me, they were the malach hamaves.  They would come every 10 days or so to make selections. They went into the infirmary barracks and brought out 47 people who were very ill. These people had high fever and couldn’t even comprehend what was happening. I was weak but my mind was completely in order and I knew exactly what was going to take place.

The Gestapo took our identification papers and burned them. We now officially no longer existed. Then the Gestapo left.  The Ukrainians took over. We joined the group and they marched us in rows, four across. At the front of the line stood one Ukrainian soldier with his rifle drawn and at the back stood a second one. I was careful not to stand at the front or to the left of the rows.

We walked through the woods. A prisoner at the front of the line fell down and the Ukrainian soldier in the rear ran up to help the soldier where the commotion was taking place. I decided to make my escape. I slipped out into the woods. I was familiar with the area because the factories were in the woods, too. I had been there for a year already and knew the place well. It didn’t take long for them to notice that one person was missing. The whole group was stopped as they went to search for me. Since they had burned our identification cards, they had no way of figuring out who the missing person was.

I had to move carefully since it was easy to spot that I was a prisoner. I saw and heard them running around and I constantly had to think of new ways to avoid them. Finally, after a few hours they gave up and moved on. I was afraid to go out. I stood in hiding behind a door so long I fainted. A while later, I woke up, barely able to move. It was raining and I inched myself out to drink the rain water. I knew I had to get back to the barracks. I was frightened of being caught, especially by some of the Jewish police. But b’chasdei Hashem, the policeman standing at the doorway was the best one in the camp. His name was Pfeffer and he was originally from Cracow. He immediately realized that I was the runaway prisoner that the Gestapo had been looking for and without delay he opened the gate and let me through. However, from the other side came the Jewish commander of the camp, Henik Eisenberg of Keltz, wearing his full uniform, leather boots and belt. Screaming at me, he whipped me until I fell to the ground unconscious.

A Jewish policeman named Meilich Goldberg, originally from my hometown of Radomsk, recognized me. He carried me to the barracks and gave me a bowl of soup.

What were you given to eat?

My cousin died of hunger; we got so little food. In the morning we were given some dirty hot water, which they called coffee.  Midday, we were given soup with white flakes in it. In the evening we were given a loaf of bread to divide amongst 10 people.  Everyone stood around watching as the bread was divided; keeping a close eye to make sure that one piece wasn’t bigger than the next. I tried to eat only half of my portion and the rest I would save for the morning. I kept the second half hidden inside my pants so no one could steal it.

There was no bathroom in our section. Once a month they took us to Section A, where there was a place to wash up. I didn’t wash up. Instead, I would spend the time racing around trying to get some food.

How long were you in this camp?

I was in Skarzysko-Kamienna for almost two years, until June of 1944. Three months earlier, word had spread that the Russians were coming closer. The Nazis began liquidating the camps. First, they shipped all the machines out. In June, they took us all out of Skarzysko-Kamienna. One group was sent to work in Czestochowa for Hacek.  Hacek was one of the biggest ammunition factories in Germany. They turned out to be the lucky ones, for they were liberated way earlier — in January 1945.

My group was sent to Buchenwald.  Buchenwald and Dachau were famous; they were the first concentration camps organized in 1934. Buchenwald was being run by German communists. When we arrived at the gate and I saw the name “Buchenwald,” I thought to myself this was the end.

To Be Continued…