Edeltraud Ríedelová

"The old people and the women and children stayed there (in the playground) and then were taken to the carriages at the station. They had already prepared wagons without roofs. Just imagine. Women with small children, they crammed them all in there and took them away at night. And they put us in this camp, a former Jewish camp. There were windows, and we could see the train station. We saw how they loaded the people and how they took them away. We were all crying. It wasn't that easy. We wanted to leave too, but they kept us there. We had to stay there and that was it."

"They threw us all out of the houses. The Czech soldiers came to each house and told us that we had to leave and take our things with us for three days. And we're all supposed to be on what they call the Spielplatz? In Bruntal, on the playground. So that's where they all had to meet. People with children, old people, young people, everybody. They had it all written down on slips, who they were going to keep, who were going to be transfer to Germany. They had it all ready. Everything. Even the people they're going to keep. They had it all sorted out. So they threw us out and we couldn't even get into our house. Nothing. So we couldn't imagine. Oh, my God, we can't get into our house? Nobody can imagine that's the way it is, and that's the way it was. They had us all together in that playground, so they sorted it out. They put the women with children and the old people on one side, the people who could work and were still brave on that side. So they divided it up. And they took us, the people who could work, right from there to the Jewish house where the Jews were during Germany, the young girls, and they worked in the weaving mill. And that was owned by Machold, who owned the factory, and then they moved us in."

"A friend of mine was just over and my mom was like, 'Oh my gosh! Russen, Russen kommen, Russen kommen! Oh my God!' She was so unhappy. And us girls there! Oh, for God's sake. Let's go to the hayloft, let's go to the hayloft! And hide ourselves! So we covered ourselves along the roof below, completely, completely covered ourselves, just so they wouldn't find us. Oh, my God! Then we heard the guys come in and look at everything. They were poking the hay. Jesus Christ, we were scared. We were so scared. And then they cooked with my mother. They made rice, they had options. They had meat. They made rice and meat for all the soldiers. Then they gave it out, carried it out in these pots. But my mother, she sat in the kitchen at the table. The commander kept telling her, 'You're supposed to go to sleep, go to sleep.' She's supposed to go to sleep, but Mom was just, 'Nein, nein.' She just stayed at the table and just kept nodding off. And there was no light. There was only a candle on the table. The light was off. And then the next day they went away."