because we preferred to be killed by bullets to ending as cripples. We did not go to work the following days, and the strike lasted three weeks. During this period, they gave us a daily ration of 200 grams of bread and 200 grams of dried apples and pears, which we used to make tea. For two days, they withdrew the bread which was full of straw. The sacks of forage peas were thrown out over the fence. There was terrible famine in Vapniarka.
I remember how we (including myself) had to lean against a hospital wall or column when we did the laundry for the sick, because we were too weak to stand. This was the worst time. The commanders wanted us to demand the peas back because we were hungry, but this did not happen.
No shots were fired, either, and finally they gave us potatoes, as well as horsemeat twice a week. A few internees slaughtered the horses and carved
up the meat. Protests by the Jewish community in Bucharest also contributed to a change in our diet. Following these events, Colonel Murgescu was replaced. And due to the fact that we were no longer eating poisonous peas, the authorities lost the weapon they had wanted to destroy us with. This is how the outcome of our hunger strike should be perceived, and to emphasize this claim I quote Colonel Murgescu’s answer to a relevant question by Dr Kessler, the undisputed leader of approximately 20 deported doctors: “What makes you think the survival of your people means anything to us?” Later, Colonel Murgescu was sentenced to death by a court martial. The sentence was carried out.
Following Colonel Murgescu’s recall, his deputy, Captain Buradescu. took over his post. It was said that he was a Gestapo agent. He relied on thieves and criminals, who were accommodated in pavilion III, to provoke a clash with us, the political prisoners. This would give him grounds to create a bloodbath. Our internal leadership ordered us to stay inside our rooms. Nevertheless, there was provocation, and Buradescu called in soldiers and gave orders to them to fire a first round of shots into the air. They followed the order. After that, he gave the order to aim their guns at us, but the soldiers fired their shots into the air again: this was due to our political conversations with the guards. Apparently, the captain did not have the courage to give another order.
Times were especially difficult and dangerous under Buradescu’s rule. There was terrible hunger. While working, I managed to steal bran from a pig trough. It had to be smuggled into the camp, where we could cook it and eat it. Sugar beet, which we found at the train station, was another important source of nutrition. We smuggled it into the camp and used it, either boiled or baked, as a sweetener.
Eventually, they replaced Buradescu as well, and a humane commander, Colonel Hristache Popovici, took over. He showed understanding for our situation, and a lot of things became more bearable. His predecessor had reduced the daily bread rations to 100 grams. He doubled them to 200 grams per day. We were allowed to receive parcels from home. He once personally went to Bucharest and came back with money for the internees from the Jewish Council. The political situation probably contributed to his sympathetic attitude, because news was now arriving from the front about setbacks of the German army. After 1945, Colonel Hristache Popovici had to appear before a court because of possible war crimes. He was acquitted as a result of statements by former camp internees, who testified to his humane behaviour, which had actually created a dangerous situation for him.
We set up a kind of hospital (field hospital) on the ground floor of pavilion I. Laci (brother of my wife Zsuzi), whose lung had to be removed, was also a patient there. He belonged to the group of prisoners from Caransebes. Popovici took Laci to his
I remember how we (including myself) had to lean against a hospital wall or column when we did the laundry for the sick, because we were too weak to stand. This was the worst time. The commanders wanted us to demand the peas back because we were hungry, but this did not happen.
No shots were fired, either, and finally they gave us potatoes, as well as horsemeat twice a week. A few internees slaughtered the horses and carved
up the meat. Protests by the Jewish community in Bucharest also contributed to a change in our diet. Following these events, Colonel Murgescu was replaced. And due to the fact that we were no longer eating poisonous peas, the authorities lost the weapon they had wanted to destroy us with. This is how the outcome of our hunger strike should be perceived, and to emphasize this claim I quote Colonel Murgescu’s answer to a relevant question by Dr Kessler, the undisputed leader of approximately 20 deported doctors: “What makes you think the survival of your people means anything to us?” Later, Colonel Murgescu was sentenced to death by a court martial. The sentence was carried out.
Following Colonel Murgescu’s recall, his deputy, Captain Buradescu. took over his post. It was said that he was a Gestapo agent. He relied on thieves and criminals, who were accommodated in pavilion III, to provoke a clash with us, the political prisoners. This would give him grounds to create a bloodbath. Our internal leadership ordered us to stay inside our rooms. Nevertheless, there was provocation, and Buradescu called in soldiers and gave orders to them to fire a first round of shots into the air. They followed the order. After that, he gave the order to aim their guns at us, but the soldiers fired their shots into the air again: this was due to our political conversations with the guards. Apparently, the captain did not have the courage to give another order.
Times were especially difficult and dangerous under Buradescu’s rule. There was terrible hunger. While working, I managed to steal bran from a pig trough. It had to be smuggled into the camp, where we could cook it and eat it. Sugar beet, which we found at the train station, was another important source of nutrition. We smuggled it into the camp and used it, either boiled or baked, as a sweetener.
Eventually, they replaced Buradescu as well, and a humane commander, Colonel Hristache Popovici, took over. He showed understanding for our situation, and a lot of things became more bearable. His predecessor had reduced the daily bread rations to 100 grams. He doubled them to 200 grams per day. We were allowed to receive parcels from home. He once personally went to Bucharest and came back with money for the internees from the Jewish Council. The political situation probably contributed to his sympathetic attitude, because news was now arriving from the front about setbacks of the German army. After 1945, Colonel Hristache Popovici had to appear before a court because of possible war crimes. He was acquitted as a result of statements by former camp internees, who testified to his humane behaviour, which had actually created a dangerous situation for him.
We set up a kind of hospital (field hospital) on the ground floor of pavilion I. Laci (brother of my wife Zsuzi), whose lung had to be removed, was also a patient there. He belonged to the group of prisoners from Caransebes. Popovici took Laci to his
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