Some Exemplary Human Beings
Despite reports of a lot of agony and suffering, one must not forget to mention that among the internees and among the Romanian officers who were in charge of the camps there were some honest, valuable human beings, who demonstrated exemplary behaviour in a difficult situation.
Many names of deportees whose behaviour was exemplary would have to be listed here, but this would go beyond the scope of my report. Therefore, I will limit myself to the names of our political leadership: Andrei Bernat, also known as “Bandi”, and Lazar Grünberg, who managed to save the majority of deportees who would have been exterminated, but were themselves shot and killed in Rybnitza. Dr. Arthur Kessler should be mentioned as well. He discovered the cause of leg paralysis and made a special effort to achieve the abolition of poisonous forage peas. He also provided outstanding care for his patients. Beti Belinski’s untiring work must not be forgotten, either. She looked after patients in the hospital.
Colonel Sabin Motora was the last commander of the Vapniarka camp and later commander of the Grossulovo camp. Thanks to his efforts in March 1944, the internees had a last minute chance to cross the Dniestr river and to reach the Romanian side alive, thus escaping certain death. In his testimony about the Vapniarka concentration camp, Nathan Simon described this odyssey in great detail. During the last phase of the escape from Transnistria, Colonel Motora apparently gave the following order to the guards: “You must not guard the internees, you must protect them!” And indeed, his courageous actions prevented an attack by Vlasov’s troops. This was an extremely courageous deed. Colonel Hristache Popovici’s humane behaviour should be mentioned once more at this point. Both of the above-mentioned commanders acted in an unselfish manner and endangered their own freedom, perhaps even their lives, to save the internees. Their actions deserve special appreciation.
Liberation from the Labour Camp
As I mentioned before, the word freedom does not have the same meaning everywhere. As early as January 1944, just after my arrival in Temesvar, I was sent to the Lucareti labour camp - Komitat Caras-Severin - where I had to do hard labour in a quarry until I was liberated by the Red Army. In this labour camp, we were organised as well. And if not for the turning point in August 1944, we would have even considered an uprising and collaboration with the partisans who were active in the region. But it did not come to that.
Following my time in the Lucareti labour camp, I was assigned to a regiment in Lugoj. To avoid heavy work, I registered as a whitewasher and subsequently painted a sergeant-major’s rooms. I had some experience in this field, but I had trouble painting a straight line between the walls and the ceiling. Luckily, they were not very demanding and accepted my work.
The bad thing was that the regiment discharge order only arrived in September 1944, with a delay. Therefore, I unintentionally worked overtime and even “additional days”.
Despite reports of a lot of agony and suffering, one must not forget to mention that among the internees and among the Romanian officers who were in charge of the camps there were some honest, valuable human beings, who demonstrated exemplary behaviour in a difficult situation.
Many names of deportees whose behaviour was exemplary would have to be listed here, but this would go beyond the scope of my report. Therefore, I will limit myself to the names of our political leadership: Andrei Bernat, also known as “Bandi”, and Lazar Grünberg, who managed to save the majority of deportees who would have been exterminated, but were themselves shot and killed in Rybnitza. Dr. Arthur Kessler should be mentioned as well. He discovered the cause of leg paralysis and made a special effort to achieve the abolition of poisonous forage peas. He also provided outstanding care for his patients. Beti Belinski’s untiring work must not be forgotten, either. She looked after patients in the hospital.
Colonel Sabin Motora was the last commander of the Vapniarka camp and later commander of the Grossulovo camp. Thanks to his efforts in March 1944, the internees had a last minute chance to cross the Dniestr river and to reach the Romanian side alive, thus escaping certain death. In his testimony about the Vapniarka concentration camp, Nathan Simon described this odyssey in great detail. During the last phase of the escape from Transnistria, Colonel Motora apparently gave the following order to the guards: “You must not guard the internees, you must protect them!” And indeed, his courageous actions prevented an attack by Vlasov’s troops. This was an extremely courageous deed. Colonel Hristache Popovici’s humane behaviour should be mentioned once more at this point. Both of the above-mentioned commanders acted in an unselfish manner and endangered their own freedom, perhaps even their lives, to save the internees. Their actions deserve special appreciation.
Liberation from the Labour Camp
As I mentioned before, the word freedom does not have the same meaning everywhere. As early as January 1944, just after my arrival in Temesvar, I was sent to the Lucareti labour camp - Komitat Caras-Severin - where I had to do hard labour in a quarry until I was liberated by the Red Army. In this labour camp, we were organised as well. And if not for the turning point in August 1944, we would have even considered an uprising and collaboration with the partisans who were active in the region. But it did not come to that.
Following my time in the Lucareti labour camp, I was assigned to a regiment in Lugoj. To avoid heavy work, I registered as a whitewasher and subsequently painted a sergeant-major’s rooms. I had some experience in this field, but I had trouble painting a straight line between the walls and the ceiling. Luckily, they were not very demanding and accepted my work.
The bad thing was that the regiment discharge order only arrived in September 1944, with a delay. Therefore, I unintentionally worked overtime and even “additional days”.
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