Hedvika Kupcová

“Back then my mum worked in the cinema in Příkopy. And it was a completely new cinema, quite luxurious, the seats and everything was nice there. And we could go to see her and sometimes watch movies. Those were the most recent movies. One of our relatives was the owner of the cinema, but of course he lost everything due to his Jewish religion. They left right at the beginning as the war started, they managed to pack it up and left for America, simply far away. And we did not have that opportunity so we stayed in Prague.”

“Well and finally in 1942 an order came for us to get on a transport. My father was in the hospital back then with a broken leg and they used to treat it so that they dug a hole through the knee and the leg was hanged up on a little scaffolding. And so he could not go. And of course my mum did not go, being a Christian. But she was kicked out of her job, so had to search a new one. And in 1942 there was an order we ought to get on a transport. Mum said: ‚No way, I will not let you go anywhere.‘ Yeah but an officer came for us. And he took two small children, as the older ones were already sent to work in Germany. And I was twelve, my brother thirteen years old. And an officer was taking us to the gathering place near Veletržní palace, and I kept crying all the way. That was the last time I saw my mum. And my father was in the hospital. They simply took two small children. We had absolutely nothing with us; we were sitting down on the ground. People, who came there, had whatever they could bring with them. Rucksacks, much stuff, clothing and all they thought they might need. Only a few took a book with them; it weighted a bit. We came there and sat on the ground. We had no mattresses, no sleeping bags, nothing at all. And the other day we went on foot, the whole transport, to the railway station – Bubeneč [editor´s note: todays Bubny] that´s what it was called. And from there they took us to Bohušovice and we had to get off there. And back then there was no turn by train to Terezin, only two years later. So the whole transport with people and their baggage they carried on their backs, and we had nothing on us, we walked for over an hour, before we reached it. Then they sent me to all the children, to girls and my brother went to boys.”