Miloš Pick

„In September 1944 I have been put in a transport again. 2.500 men in age between 16 and 50 had been chosen. They told us we were going to Berlin for clearing out debris, but we were heading to the East three days and nights instead. It was clear we were in big troubles. Third day in four o’clock in the morning we saw kilometers of barbered wire, watchtowers equipped with machineguns, searchlights... Then it started. We had to leave everything in the train. So called Canada Commando drove us off wagons. We had to line up in five rows, SS troops were firing into the air to deter us from fleeing, and wolfhounds were running around. We slowly moved to a small table with a reflector where notorious Mengele was standing among the guards and was pursing first selection.”

„A transport came in January 1943. We had departed to Mladá Boleslav. Few moths before we had been registered. On 13th January we left for railroad station Psinice – two kilometers away from Libáň – and moved on to Mladá Boleslav. There we have stayed three days. I have to admit these three days were relatively ok. Except from the Gestapo officer Fidler we had been guarded by local cops, who treated us really well. They even reported to us what the BBC was broadcasting. But on the day we where leaving Nazi guards moved heavy machine guns all along our way to the railway station. Now we understood easy times were gone. If I remember the numbers right there were 721 people in our transport, but only 21 survived the war.”

„When it was my turn, I gathered all my strength and energy left. I have tried to look straight into Mengele’s eyes in an impudent way and shouted: zwanzig Jahre, Maschinenschlosser! Of course I was 18 years old and no locksmith at all. I had in my pocket documents which proved I was a student. The easiest thing was to pull it out and made a check. Mengele was watching me with disdain – ‘everybody is lying here like you do’ – but then he looked away. Something glittered in his eyes with joy and a pointer in his hand which was already moving to the wrong side stopped. Mengele swiftly pointed to the other side, SS guards made a space in their row and I passed trough to the right line. Only thereafter I felt sick. I realized how close I was to death.”

„We were heading to Terezin. I have stayed there till September 1944. There was a big hunger in those days, but we were not beaten. In comparison with what was supposed to follow in extermination camps, Terezin seemed like a sanatorium. I had been working in a locksmith workroom. I was living in the home four youth. One of us had been working in the bakery so he was able to bring a loaf of brad every day. We symbolically lived like a community. We had been bringing in food in one pot for all.”