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WHEREVER THEY MAY BE
© 1972, The
Beate Klarsfeld Foundation
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An hour later they were in a hurry to go home, so
they postponed the questioning until the next morning. They told me that I
would spend the night in a cell, then led me to the basement, through a large
barred door, to kind of a filthy cave. I put all my personal effects in a
sealed envelope in a small office. The only thing I kept was a handkerchief
which I was later to use as a washcloth. After all that had happened that day,
I was glad enough of a chance to rest, and I fully expected to find a bed I
could stretch out on, as in Berlin. What a disappointment; I was thrust into a
black hole, 12' x 15', where two girls were already asleep on the floor. There
was a rolled-up mattress propped against one wall, but it was revolting, and
there were no sheets. I was allowed one rough, dark gray blanket, but it too
was filthy. I could not actually see the dirt, but I could certainly smell it.
The girls spoke only Czech, but one was pleasant enough and helped me
fix up a bed. Like them, I lay down in all my clothes. Their panties and
stockings were drying by the window.
One hour later a fat girl, who was
weeping hysterically, joined us and began telling her plight to the other two.
Even so, I slept better than I had the previous night.
At 6 A.M. there
was a rapping on the door. I awoke, but all I wanted was to go back to sleep.
One of the girls suddenly started pounding on the wall. Why, I did not know,
but after three or four blows water spurted out of a small pipe I had not
noticed and dribbled down the wall. The corner served as a toilet, among other
things, and it was enclosed by a torn curtain that could not be closed. Beside
it was a pail so revolting that I thought it must be a chamber pot. It turned
out to be the receptacle for all the water that would be available that day.
The girls plunged their hands into it as soon as enough water had collected,
but I merely moistened my handkerchief and dabbed at my face. The Czech girls
were used to it, however, and they collected every drop, washed their face and
brushed their teeth, then used the rest for their laundry. In fact, one of them
was so industrious that she dipped a piece of burlap into the remainder of the
water and mopped up the entire cell with it. Then we stacked our mattresses
against the wall and folded our blankets.
Our guards were all men, who
took advantage of a peephole to squint at us. The girls wore rather extreme
miniskirts, and the one who mopped up the cell did not put her panties on until
she had
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WHEREVER THEY MAY BE
© 1972, The
Beate Klarsfeld Foundation |
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Back |
Page 136 |
Forward |
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