#HOLOCAUST
VICTIM ANNA ANDORN – DIARY ENTRIES
Part
V: 1942-44
1942
– July 21 – We have been travelling now for 24 hours and we don’t know where we
are headed. We often travel on secondary
tracks in order to let transports to the front go ahead. They have given me a bucket and a cup. I am allowed to get out of the train at every
stop and am supposed to try each time to obtain water for distribution to the
“travellers”. The sliding door [of the
car] is [pulled back] to leave only a narrow opening, so that nobody can
escape.
Evening. An SA man from the troop escorting us speaks
to me when the train stops, asking whether I was nurse Anna from Bottrop? And what was I doing in this train. I explain the situation to him, and that 26
years ago, I was nurse Anna. I have a
glimpse of his eyes tearing up before he turns away and leaves.
At night we stop on an open stretch. They have placed us in an unlocked section so
that I can immediately proceed to look for water. But there is no house far or near.
The SA man comes back and says to
me: “Nurse Anna, I want to help you. I
know that you saved my life that time in Bottrop”. I answer him, that he can only help us, my
husband and me. We will not be separated
at this time of need.
He repeats that he can suggest a
plan for me. But the disappearance of
two people would endanger his own life, he says, and goes away.
Of course I tell Maier about this
strange encounter. He is angry with me
that I did not accept [the man’s proposal]: “If we are put into a concentration
camp, you can more easily do something for us and for our release from the
outside”.
At the next stop I right away look
for the SA man and declare that I am prepared to follow his plan. He should tell me what I need to do. The next station is Theresienstadt, our
destination, [he says]. Everybody would
be leaving the cars, only the dead would be left behind. They would be picked
up a little later by a squad and piled up here next to the track. “First you must hide somewhere and at the
right moment lie down among the dead.
The train will be taken to the camp and the bright floodlights will be
turned off. As soon as it is dark, run
away!”
It is known, he explained further,
that the Czech population there by the Eger was very hostile to the
Germans. “You will somehow be able to
keep alive, [whereas] in the concentration camp you will soon die of hunger.”
I was able to carry out the plan devised
by the SA man. I lay amongst the dead
probably for an hour, but when they shut off the floodlights, I ran off right
away. I watched the guards walking around
the high fence with fierce dogs, but they did not notice me at all.
Finally, I came to a river and
washed up. It was a wonderful, clear
summer night. All the stars were
shining. I was afraid of encountering
people.
1942
- July 22nd. Of course, I had
pangs of remorse, thought of Maier and how I could help him. Then from far away, the bells rang. I could see the steeple of the church. I went there, thinking I would thank the
Eternal One for my salvation and ask him to guide me further.
I knelt in the church, communicated
in my thoughts with the good Lord himself and asked him only to show me the
right way. There were only a few faithful
in the church. I just observed the
preacher, who at the end of the mass came towards me and enquired about me.
I immediately told him the whole
truth, but not that I was a Jew: “I fled from the train and my husband is there
in the concentration camp. I don’t have
anything to eat nor anywhere to sleep.”
The old man had a kind face and he thought immediately of how I could be
helped. He told me right away that aiding
someone to flee the concentration camp was punishable by death. So, we had to be very careful.
In the concentration camp there
weren’t only Jews. He could get in without any difficulty to offer the poor
people at least some spiritual help. He
[said he] would inquire about my husband and also, if there was a chance, bring
him some food. I could rest every night
on the sofa in the sacristy. Officially,
however, he did not want to know anything.
The church itself was dirty, the
floor had not been cleaned for weeks, so I tried to offer my thanks for the
preliminary rescue by thoroughly cleaning the church. The priest looked after my food and my
clothing and through him I was also in constant communication with Maier.
1943
– I have now been living underground for half a year. Last year it looked as if Germany was really
going to win the war. People talked to
me now and then, I answered only yes or no.
Nobody dares to ask questions about me.
They often bring me something to eat.
They probably suspect why I am here.
It is winter and it is very
cold. The preacher told me that Maier
has a bad cold. He is so kind to me, and
I put him in grave danger. I have taken
the decision to go soon to the camp with him.
He too thinks that that is possible.
He will get a nurse’s outfit for me.
I will have the Red Cross pin on me, so nobody will think anything of
it. But once in the camp, I will quickly
have to get a camp uniform.
We have followed the plan
exactly. We took the camp uniform from a
dead person. Maier is happy that I am
again close to him. Unfortunately, he is
very weak. Rumour has it that the Germans have had lots of losses on all fronts
and have to retreat everywhere. Will we live
to see our liberation?
My dear husband died in his sleep on
October 21s . He did not
suffer, it was a collapse of all his vitals.
Alone I cannot and I will not continue living in this hell. “
Translated from the German by Susi Lessing. The original text is at https://digipres.cjh.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE10164662
