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István Katona of Kartal, Hungary
ROOM 9C: REVELATION: THE UNSHUTTERED HORRORS OF WAR
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First-Hand Account |
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My spirit rose, when the
Hungarian speaking SS --from our old camp-- came alongside me and
said. "It will be all right now for you, the war will not last
longer than a few days, but what will happen to me?" I did not dare
to tell him, what I thought, that he deserved what he will get [or
is he today a wealthy businessman in Germany?]
In the camp, it was
the usual procedure, never mind that the war was close to the end.
Shower, delousing, back to the same dirty uniform, march down to the
so called "Russenlager" a section of the camp, which earlier housed
Russian POWs, but now was the place to collect deportees to die from
"natural causes". Within days the SS disappeared, and the camp was
taken over by Viennese police. On the 5th of May, 1945, the
Americans arrived, not believing what they saw.
In the camp, it was
the usual procedure, never mind that the war was close to the end.
Shower, delousing, back to the same dirty uniform, march down to the
so called "Russenlager" a section of the camp, which earlier housed
Russian POWs, but now was the place to collect deportees to die from
"natural causes".
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Within days
the SS disappeared, and the camp was taken over by Viennese police. On the
5th of May, 1945, the Americans arrived, not believing what they saw.
There were rotting
bodies everywhere, and for days the Americans wandered around, filming the
scenes from Dante's inferno. They forced the town folk to see the camp,
then to dig mass graves, where German soldiers and locals had to bury the
victims with their bare hands.
The Americans wanted to
be helpful, so they gave us food. Lots of people died in the next weeks
from over-eating. People who were feeble, sick, hungry, ate the --rich and
plentiful food and died. Laci Kantor, who days ago had kissed me, and
thanked God that he had survived, that he was free to go home to his
parents, laid in our bed next morning, dead by my side.
Slowly the Americans
realized the situation and erected tents for hospitals and took the sick
there. Every hour a little bus arrived, picking up 12 people, who were
laid out in front of our barrack, waiting for the transport to the
hospital. My instinct for life gave me strength to crawl out on my own
accord, and lay beside them. The hospital bus came, there were 13 people.
What could they do? They took 12, and would come back for the 13th an hour
later. I was among the 12. Who knows, maybe this hour made the difference
between life and death. I knew I had to do it.
I received blood and
sugar transfusion and in two weeks I was up in the main camp, ready to be
repatriated."
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