Tamar Ben-Joya
The Royal College of Art
2023
This research was held thanks to Maayan Ben-Shushan Aharoni's academic work, “The hiding of the Jews in bunkers and hiding places during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising” for “The Warsaw Ghetto as an urban space and a zone of disaster” course in The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2020
This research project focuses on the re-interpretation of historical visual memory that has been lost during the Holocaust, specifically pertaining to the hiding places and bunkers constructed within the Warsaw Ghetto in 1943. The project aims to reconstruct and revive those locations through illustration practices, interweaved with historical investigation.
The German invasion of Poland in September 1939 marked the commencement of a harrowing period for the Jewish population, as they were systematically denied their basic rights under the Nazi regime. As a culmination of these oppressive measures, the Jewish inhabitants were confined to the Warsaw Ghetto, enduring extreme conditions of hunger, humiliation, density, and diseases. Amidst the implementation of the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question," which sentenced the Jewish population to death, thousands of Jews were transported to the Treblinka death camp, where they faced mass extermination.
In July 1942, the "Great Aktion" unfolded, resulting in the deportation of 300,000 Jews to Treblinka over a span of nine days. This act of extreme violence and cruelty left the Warsaw ghetto nearly deserted, with only 45,000-50,000 individuals remaining out of an initial population of half a million Jews. In the wake of the traumatic events of the Great Aktion, the remaining population recognized that the end was imminent, and the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto was impending. Consequently, preparations were made for this fateful day. A portion of the population, primarily composed of young individuals involved in Zionist youth movements, organized and mobilized themselves for what would later be known as the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Their preparations included the construction of tunnels, acquisition of firearms and ammunition, and a firm resolve to confront the advancing SS soldiers, even if it meant sacrificing their lives in the process. Simultaneously, the rest of the population began constructing hiding places and bunkers. Encouraged by reports of the Allied army's successful resistance against the German Reich, they clung to the hope that if they managed to remain concealed for several months, or even a year, the war would eventually conclude, increasing their chances of survival. Hiding places were established throughout the ghetto under unimaginable circumstances of deprivation and fear. Some bunkers were designed to accommodate individual families or small groups, while others were ingeniously engineered to shelter hundreds of people, encompassing entire buildings or multiple interconnected structures. The planning and execution of these hiding places varied in complexity, with some being simple and others showcasing remarkable creativity and engineering prowess.
During a month-long period, the Jewish population in the Warsaw ghetto confronted the Nazi regime's attempts to liquidate them through acts of resistance and concealment. However, the SS soldiers mercilessly destroyed the entire ghetto, using fire and bombs to obliterate any evidence and claiming the lives of thousands. Those who managed to survive this onslaught were subsequently transported to Treblinka. Ultimately, on May 16, 1943, the Warsaw ghetto stood empty.
The story of the Warsaw ghetto holds significant prominence among Holocaust narratives in Israel due to its large population. Within the Israeli narrative, there is a particular emphasis on the heroic and extraordinary accounts of the Jewish uprising. From a young age, we are instilled with values of self-sacrifice, courage in times of crisis, and the fight for our rights against those seeking our destruction. However, delving into the history and events of that time reveals an alternate reality. Those individuals who chose to hide and preserve their lives were marginalized and erased from the Israeli narrative as if their desperate struggle to survive and resist the inevitable held no power. Who defines a form of resistance?
In my research, I aimed to trace those hiding places and bunkers in Warsaw. I wanted to re-create those spaces using an artistic, practice-led point of view. I tried to reveal truth or speculation which might create a new source of knowledge or a different perspective on a situation of human trauma and human choices. By listening to hundreds of testimonies in different archives, reading books, seeing pictures and listening to lectures, I started to collect visual evidence of those spaces. How it looked and sounded, how it might have felt, what kinds of solutions they thought of, and what kind of reality they were facing. I started to gather information on sound - where the testifying person is talking fluently, and where there is silence? I tried to trace and chase the silenced, to unfold the untold parts, where lost truths and memories are being held. It felt like the efforts to reach something that is unreachable, form new knowledge of absence, that is a crucial part of those stories.
Furthermore, my work incorporated the use of AI engines, using their collective knowledge to comprehend how they interpret those spaces at that time. How does artificial intelligence interoperates the Warsaw ghetto? Or the Jewish uprising? Or an underground bunker? Can it recreate how the furniture looked like, the walls of the room, and the people who inhabited these spaces?
In my work, I hope that I managed to help give a name or presence to places where their physical and collective memory existence has been lost. This research book reflects the progress I have made thus far, yet I acknowledge that my research is far from over - there are many more archives to look at, many more minutes of silence, and much to reveal.
Stable Diffusion, Prompt based on Aviva Lehavi testimoy: "Illustration of 50 people in Warsaw 1943 squeezed together in a small dark underground room with no windows"
Through examination of the historical documentation of the Warsaw ghetto, how can illustration contribute to the visual perception of the Holocaust by re-creating lost information, memory and space?
How can illustration reconstruct a memory? How can visual storytelling be used to make everyday histories physically present? How can visual storytelling describes lost information? Can it? How can illustration contribute as a research method to the Israeli memory/representation of the Holocaust? How does visual representation help in the construction of collective memory? Can something with no visual representation be presented? How responsible can representation be to historical facts and stories? If the historical event is described with visual storytelling, Is the artwork itself considered to be historically true? How can you measure historical facts in an artwork? Is it necessary? Is my action contributing to history or distorting it? Does visual research have a place or form in historical research? Does it have to have a place in that? How does the collective memory of the Holocaust is changing with time, as most people who survived and were there have passed?
September July
October
to Poland 300,000 Jews were deported to gas chambers in the Treblinka death camp. Only about 45,000 Jews remained in the ghetto.
This picture was part of the Stroop Report.
Taken by German SS soldiers. 1943
“Urgently and passionately, those of us working on memory and transmission within and beyond the study of the Holocaust have argued about the ethics and the aesthetics of remembrance in the aftermath of catastrophe. How do we regard and recall what Susan Sontag has so powerfully described as the “pain of others?”1 What do we owe the victims? How can we best carry their stories forward, without appropriating them, without unduly calling attention to ourselves, and without, in turn, having our own stories displaced by them? How are we implicated in the aftermath of crimes we did not ourselves witness?
The multiplication of genocides and collective catastrophes at the end of the twentieth century and during the first decade of the twenty-first, and their cumulative effects, have made these questions ever more urgent. The bodily, psychic, and affective impact of trauma and its aftermath, the ways in which one trauma can recall, or reactivate, the effects of another, exceed the bounds of traditional historical archives and methodologies. Late in his career, for example, Raul Hilberg, after combing through miles of documents and writing his massive, 1,300-page book “The Destruction of the European Jews” and, indeed, after dismissing oral history and testimony for their factual inaccuracies deferred to storytelling and to poetry as skills historians need
to learn if they are to be able to tell the difficult history of the destruction of the Jews in Europe. Hilberg is recalling a dichotomy between history and memory (for him, embodied by poetry and narrative) that has had a shaping effect on the field. But, nearly seventy years after Adorno’s contradictory injunctions about the barbarity of writing poetry after Auschwitz, poetry is now only one of many media of transmission.
Numerous testimony projects and oral history archives, the important role of photography and performance, the ever-growing culture of memorials, and the new interactive museology reflect the need for aesthetic and institutional structures that broaden and enlarge the traditional historical archive with a “repertoire” of embodied knowledge that had previoysly been neglected by many traditional historians.”
“... [while writing the book] I mainly learned about our limitations, as both researchers and human beings. Because eventually, we too have difficulties. And it is important to underline it- it is a completely different difficulty than those survivors and perishes have, and we can’t obfuscate the boundaries between them. We are not survivors. But we who deal with the past, especially with the radical period of the Holocaust, we too have a problem of inability to describe it. [...by writing the book the way I did] I hope the readers will be able to see that other than not being able to describe and tell what we don’t know, we also lack the ability to fully describe what we do know. And this is a great difficulty. But there’s another great difference between the generation of our teachers who taught us about the Holocaust and our generation… When they were talking about the Holocaust 50 years ago, they talked about Warsaw, Auschwitz, and they knew exactly what they were describing, and the people who heard them knew exactly what they refer to: people knew what those places were like - the colours, the smells - which allowed the use of obscure phrases such as “Human Tragedy”, “Horrible events” and “Night Terror”there was no need to go into specific details because everyone knew what you were referring to… But I think today we’re facing a certain
point where we’re going back to previously asked questions, and we have the urge to redescribe the things we believed to be clear. And I believe it forces us to go back and deal with the detailswhich is eventually what every historian does […] Following the urge to use the available sources of information in order to try and understand the complex reality which used to exist.”
Translated from a speech by the historian, prof. Havi Dreifuss, receiving an award for her newly published book “Warsaw Ghetto: The End”
Hearing testimonies, reading Havi Dreyfuss’s book and hearing her open lectures gives a close look at a hell upon earth, which was unbelievably a reality for half a million people [regarding the Warsaw ghetto]. As a person without official former educational historical background, I have been exposed to a different type of information - a sort of open-source of both horror and fear, but most importantly, historical truth, facts and conclusions that shed light on stories. These stories allow the reader a heart-breaking peak into a reality that happened not too long ago, in a place not so far away from here, to people and by people that are not so different.
Historians, scholars and researchers like Havi Dreifuss have the ability to explore, investigate, listen and collect information which together forms a better understanding of the details. These details, piece by piece, help to build the bigger picture of whatever they ask to form - an event, a moment in time, a culture, a city, a neighbourhood, a family, a love story, a person.
“But I think today we’re facing a certain point where we’re going back to previously asked questions, and we have the urge to redescribe the things we believed to be clear. And I believe it forces us to go back and deal with the details - which is eventually what every historian does […] Following the urge to use the available sources of information in order to try and understand the complex reality which used to exist.”
Dealing with the details, as Hevi mentions in her speech, helps historians to form what was lost. These small descriptions, encounters, and opportunities for information - are giving the option to form the complete picture that was lost through destruction, trauma and time.
Through creative practice interweaved with archival work, the ‘chase’ after details can be given a new aspect. By looking for the details, as the practice method of historians, we can try to recreate lost information.
I find details as a crucial aspect in the practice of illustration, as they are an integral part of the research and the story being presented. By chasing pieces of details (both visible and invisible, audible and inaudible), a new aspect of the story can be built. The practice of illustration, by testing its boundaries and questioning its limits, can offer a different perspective and attitude toward historical research: visual historical research. This can look at not only what can be found but also what has been lost. What do the silences, the unspoken, the thing that is missing, reflect on the bigger picture and story? How can creative practices shed light on those, treat them like details too, using them to form lost history? And how can creative practices use the details, both present and unpresent, to chase a truth that could never be held?
The most severe criticism of the use of fiction has of course been directed at authors and filmmakers who are not survivors. But if the criticism or even prohibition of the use of fiction can be justified in the case of these writers and filmmakers, there would seem to be no reason not to apply the same criteria to narratives written by survivors as well. If the risk always exists that fiction will obscure, if not deform,“the truth,” nowhere does the obligation to memory and historical truth seem to weigh heavier than on survivors, not just outweighing but even perhaps eliminating what in all other circumstances would have to be considered a fundamental right of all writers: the right to imagination and creativity, the right to fiction.
But what rights and obligations does the writer-survivor have, and which rights should take precedence, if and when he/she is forced to choose between different and perhaps conflicting obligations and desires? The right of any artist or writer to fashion and experiment with images and narrative forms would for most certainly not appear sufficient justification for fiction in this context. For what is the aesthetic freedom of a writer or a group of writers, what is the freedom of art or literature itself, one could ask, compared either to the annihilation of millions of victims or the monstrous degradation and suffering of millions more? It might well seem disrespectful or shameful even to think in terms of artistic freedom in such a context. It could even be con sidered to constitute an additional injustice against the victims of the Shoah.
It is of course important, especially in this context, to
distinguish between fiction, on the one hand, and lies or the motivated, ideological distortion or denial of facts, on the other. In terms of the latter, Pierre Vidal-Naquet has refused to enter into any form of dialogue with the socalled revisionists or negationists of the Holocaust, whom he rightly calls the “assassins of memory.” He eloquently defends memory and history against all such assas sins, but in doing so he also appears to place “fiction” in general, defined as a deviation from or distortion of the truth, in the negationists’ or assassins’ camp. For, even if he acknowledges that there is an irreducible “poetic dimen sion” to historical discourse and claims that no critical historian still believes that the language of history could ever be made completely transparent, he still insists that history and fiction do not and should not ever meet:“S’il est vrai que le travail historique exige une ‘rectification sans fin’ la fiction, surtout quand elle est délibérée, et l’histoire véritable, n’en constitutent moins deux extrêmes qui ne se rencontrent pas.” All “deliberate” fiction is thus in a sense treated by Vidal-Naquet as a“lie” that could potentially be used as a weapon to assassinate memory. In order to protect both memory and history, he argues that fiction should thus be clearly distinguished from and kept as far away from legitimate history as possible. If the historian allows history to be poetic and even admits that it is poetic whether it wants to be or not, he stridently maintains that it cannot overlap with fiction without risking being assassinated by it, a risk considered much too great to run, especially when the subject is the Shoah.
We have seen that in the early Zionist response to the events of World War 2 there was a struggle to enlist the collapse of European Jewry as a symbolic force in the reconstruction of the Jewish homeland. As the dimensions of the destruction became known, it took a tremendous act of faith to assert that even this terrible calamity could be redeemed and added to the mortar of national reconstruction. But theodicies and cultural programs had been erected on the ruins of the two Temples: might one not, then, at least reclaim secular ideologies and cultural priorities from the ashes of Treblinka? Eventually, historical lessons were drawn that were compatible with prevailing ideologies. In Zion the Jews had largely succeeded in reconstructing Jewish history–deliberately leaping over some 2000 years of what Salo Baron called the “lachrymose conception of Jewish history” to reach from the heroism of Bar Kokhba, leader of the revolt against Rome in the 2nd century, to the heroism of Trumpeldor, a pioneer who died fighting Arabs in Galilee, in the 20th. In order to incorporate the events of the holocaust into prevailing historical codes, emphasis was placed on instances of bravery and revolt–culminating in 1952 in the designation of the day commemorating the holocaust (the 27th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan) as “Yom Hashoah Vehagvurah” – the Day
of the Holocaust and Heroism (the date was chosen to coincide with the anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising). By a few swift strokes, it seems, the memory of the holocaust, and the memories of the worlds that had been destroyed, were nationalized.”
ZOB
Jewish Fighting Organization
ZZW
Jewish Military Union
Jewish population in the Ghetto
Revisioning the Past: The Changing Legacy of the Holocaust in Hebrew Literature / Sidra Dekoven Ezrahi, p.257
Data taken from Havi Dreifuss (Ben-Sasson) / Warsaw and the Jews during the Holocaust: A Window to Personal and Social living in Radical Times / TAU University Webcast
This picture was part of the Stroop Report. Taken by German SS soldiers. A bunker in Warsaw, 1943. Ghetto Fighters House
This picture was part of the Stroop Report. Taken by German SS soldiers. SS soliders with young Jewish man outside his bunker, 1943
Ruins of buildings in Warsaw, taken by Julien Bryan.
US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Julien Bryan
This picture was part of the Stroop Report. Taken by German SS soldiers. Original German caption: "These bandits offered armed resistance.", 1943
Jewish
refugees waiting in a soup line at a shelter at 33 Nalewki Street, Yas Vashem
“Myths and stories convey symbolic or fundamental truths; some of which are specific to certain cultures and disputed by others, while others are applicable to all human thought. We use these stories in order to make sense of events; to put them in an order that aligns with our view of the world. A very different kind of truth to the evidential kind, and yet no less “truthful”. Therefore, we may take from this that there are multiple truths and no absolute or singular truth. How then can these ideas be understood within the framework of illustration practice? Fundamentally, illustration doesn’t claim to represent reality, it is interpretive. In any case, it shouldn’t be assumed that all the facts are accessible to the illustrator. Illustration is analytical, diagnostic and investigative. Illustrations explain, reveal and make clear. The role, or concern, of the illustrator therefore, is not to report the facts but instead to communicate so as the viewer understands, empathises or questions.”
Interview Code
1996.A.0586.80
Melbourne, Australia Location
1996 Year
English Language
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
“[...] Finally, we had to leave there because I was really impossible to live longer like this. And then we found a place that was not far from Thebens in the same street “Leshno”. But part of Leshno belonged to Aryen side already, but the other side where the Thebens was, that was some houses, but mostly the hiding places were mostly in some ruin houses, you know, that would be less— but they knew it already, they looked everywhere, they tried, they tried to get... to poor victims… anywhere possible what they could think of. So what we were trying to think, gradually, we… the houses in Warsaw almost - the apartment houses- had a cellars, where there be used to keep the coals, you know, for winter. Because we used to have this–not central heating but we used to have this stoves-like [...] to be used with coals… [...] warm up this, so the cellars were always, you know, for the coals or other things, like… to store there. So one of the cellars, I remember how we gradually did make a bunker of it, you know? Each cellar has a little window. So we flet the window with bricks, and tried to make it not look fresh, you know, that wouldn’t be… and this [...] cellar was under each of this houses had sort of an entrance like that was just under the entrance, which was less, maybe we thought was safer, also, but anyway that where we did make a bunker there. And gradually we tried
to prepare some food there, because if we will hide there, some of us, you know, maybe many of us because we let enter some people who was [...] have nowhere to go. I remember one older lady, she was probably at this stage maybe 60 or something… we were still young so she was all alone. And she was nearly out of her mind, what to do, we said you come with us, cause another one person didn’t matter, and she had her little savings up from food, so you know, everybody would contribute and we were sort of prepared to stay there in case of need. So we lived there for a while, and then… ohh… to describe the ghetto... That was… I mean, one sees in pictures, but to live through it, and to see the bodies…”
I don’t know rather you would know, but some people could remember where the old-sort-of-stoves which we burnt wood and coal there to cook meals, to cook food, then there was sort of iron heavy stoves, you know, some openings. We had to lift up the top of it, there was an opening covered with wood, pretending that’s… you know, there, didn’t use it. We had to lift this up that wasn’t a sort of hole, through which we had to slide down to go, and that was a little step ladder, you know, to go down to the cellar, and then removed this and put this back and removed the ladder, that’s where we stayed in the bunker. But that was the way, so we thought nobody will ever think of lifting up this to enter this.
“...We lived in Leszno [street] where we build that bunker, we lived on the ground floor… because we put the cover top to the little window, and the entrance was completely covered up to the cellar, you know, to the bunker. To enter the bunker, you know how that was… I don’t know rather you would know, but some people could remember where the old-sort-of-stoves which we burnt wood and coal there to cook meals, to cook food, then there was sort of iron heavy stoves, you know, some openings. We had to lift up the top of it, there was an opening covered with wood, pretending that’s… you know, there, didn’t use it. We had to lift this up that wasn’t a sort of hole, through which we had to slide down to go, and that was a little step ladder, you know, to go down to the cellar, and then removed this and put this back and removed the ladder, that’s where we stayed in the bunker. But that was the way, so we thought nobody will ever think of lifting up this to enter this. That’s how we were entering this hiding place, this bunker. Indeed we haven’t been burned. Somehow this fire was avoided us, fortunately. But, even in the ruins, there were going and throwing grenades and bombs, and one of the grenades hit there, and uncovered the bunker. So here we were, there, uncovered. Nothing could save us. [...]”
“For a little while, I don’t know if it was two months or six weeks or three months, I don’t really remember time in terms of days or months, didn’t really mean that much. And my parents, together with others, and that particular care taker were preparing a bunker. Because obviously, they believe if they could hold out long enough, they could survive. So they started putting food, water, and building a bunker where we could spend some time and maybe do something, whatever it was, but not… one of the things that I remember quite clearly- my parents, is not… they did not want to give in, or give up. Or let themselves be called by the Germans. And I think that to large extend, this feeling was embodied(?) by them by HaRav Kroll (?) - because I remember he came to us several times before, before that last time, when he said, when he took his goodbye from, and he told us the documents won’t help, that he said that whatever you do, you must not allow yourself to be called. Because to be called meant to be dead [...]”
“[...] I’d like to talk about the preparations for the end, which I think everybody knew was coming. Because they had this, the first action and the second action, and now everybody was waiting- because it was (??) and everybody was waiting. And while they were waiting, they were preparing bunkers. And our building, the caretaker, and I suppose some of the men including my father, decided to build a bunker underneath the building. The front portion of the building was destroyed during the bombing of the war, by a bomb. So that was never obviously fixed up. But the back portion stood, quite well, that’s where we lived. We lived in a small apartment. And right underneath those ruins, they started digging. They went and through(?) a cellar, and started digging quite a big
bunker. To hold… I reckon there were a few hundred people in that bunker. Several hundred people in that bunker. And the… my father and my mother, after the last discussion they had with my cousin, who had some connections with the authorities, where he could try and get, you know, these different types of documents, and they told us we mustn’t believe anybody, we must just try and survive, but we mustn’t believe anybody that tells us it’s gonna be good, you gonna be this… you must just try and do what your gut feeling tells you, I’m talking about gut feelingI didn’t know about gut feeling in those days, but I’m just telling you- you must believe in god, and you must try your best to survive. That you must not believe that the Germans, or the Poles, or anybody who was there, to try and get you into the gas chambers [...]”
Don’t ask me why, but I wasn’t scared. But I’m sure my mother and my father must have been terrified.
That’s why I’m talking about this hysteria. It wasn’t Hysteria- loud hysteria, it was inner hysteria, that was… that I remember quite clearly.
But I remember there was light, because I read. It wasn’t very bright, you know, it was kind of vague, dim light. But I could read by it. And I just spent my time reading “Scarlett OHara”, and waiting for the trap door to open.
She dressed us in something, which is like tights but made from wool, and in Polish, it is call “Riteuzi”. Why “Riteuzi” stuck back in my mind I don’t know, but I remember she was trying to get me in as quickly as possible, she was trying to pull my feet in, into this “Riteuzi”. And as soon as we got dressed I grabbed my suitcase. But I didn’t grab a suitcase with things, I grabbed a suitcase with just full of lamps. Don’t ask me why, but I collected lamps. And I grabbed the book which was called “Scarlett OHara”, which I didn’t know then, was “Gone with the wind”, I only discovered it many years later when I got to England after the war. And which I’ve been reading, it was the only book that I had, for quite a long time I’ve been reading it backwards and forwards.
[...] And I remember extremely well, I remember visually, not only do I remember the feelings but I remember the visual. I remember it was very early in the morning, that my mother woke us up, we were asleep. And she dressed us, I mean, it wasn’t that cold but she dressed us in warm clothes. Until this day I don’t know why. She dressed us in something, which is like tights but made from wool, and in Polish, it is call “Riteuzi” Why “Riteuzi” stuck back in my mind I don’t know, but I remember she was trying to get me in as quickly as possible, she was trying to pull my feet in, into this “Riteuzi”. And as soon as we got dressed I grabbed my suitcase. But I didn’t grab a suitcase with things, I grabbed a suitcase with just full of lamps. Don’t ask me why, but I collected lamps. And I grabbed the book which was called “Scarlett O’Hara”, which I didn’t know then, was “Gone with the wind”, I only discovered it many years later when I got to England after the war. And which I’ve been reading, it was the only book that I had, for quite a long time I’ve been reading it backwards and forwards. So I grab those two things and I went down to the bunker.
Yeah, the flashlights without bulbs, without batteries but they were just empty flashlights. Which I’ve been collecting and I had a whole suitcase and I wouldn’t let go of that suitcase for the alive. And that’s what I grabbed. And I went down to the bunker, they had candles there… you know, I can’t remember whether they had light or not. It’s very… the memory is very sticky about that. I know there was light, we were not in darkness. But I can’t remember if there was only candles or whether there was some light, electric light. Because there was electric light in the ghetto but I don’t know when it stopped and when it started and how they fixed it up. Just can’t remember. I got a feeling it was mainly candlelight. Or maybe they had “neft” lamps (oil), I just can’t… I don’t remember, that memory I haven’t got. But I remember there was light, because I read. It wasn’t very bright, you know, it was kind of vague, dim light. But I could read by it. And I just spent my time reading “Scarlett O’Hara”, and waiting for the trap door to open. There was a trap door, and one- the caretaker- would stay outside and he would cover the trap door in such a way that it would look like just earth or whatever, and he would hide, he had a small hide somewhere outside, and when the Germans would disappear for the night from the ghetto, he would open it up and we would go out and sometimes we even would go back to the little apartment that we had and we even sleep out there. Sometimes we would just go out for half an hour and sleep in the bunker. Towards the end, for the last, we stayed mostly in the bunker because we were told that there were Jewish Gestapo, if you don’t mind, I mean - they weren’t really Gestapo but they were like Gestapo, they were informers that collaborating with the Gestapo, they wore the same type of clothes as the Gestapo, except, except when they… you know, during the day. But at night, they used to come and… beg to be let in, that they are alone and they must be… they want to find shelter, and they would cry and then they would find out where it was, and
the next night when we would go out, they would disappear, and the next thing is... So they were very careful about that. And they must have been extremely careful because we were several weeks in that bunker, I would say we were about anything between maybe three or four weeks, in that bunker. That my memory.
Pinchas: umm… people talk, but, it was.. It was always in hush tones, and … it was… I don’t remember words. What I do remember is the… the… the… the way people… it was hysterical shushing. People were talk in that kind of pitch of hysteria, I think everybody must have been so… worked-up and tense, which is quite, you know, understandable, I think those people… Most of the adults must have been beside themselves. I don’t think that I really… completely realised, you know… I mean, I know what was going on, but I don’t think that… certainly, in the bunker, I wasn’t scared. Don’t ask me why, but I wasn’t scared. But I’m sure my mother and my father must have been terrified. That’s why I’m talking about this hysteria. It wasn’t Hysteria- loud hysteria, it was inner hysteria, that was… that I remember quite clearly. If you ask me now I remember cause I can picture the people, I even remember when eventually the knock, the inevitable knock came on the trap door saying ‘Juden Raus’ that we were discovered or we were informed on, and they say ‘if you don’t come out in half an hour we’re going to pump gas through your… we know where your air vents are, we’re gonna pump’ and they opened up, I remember people say ‘well, maybe we can bribe them, maybe we can give them some money, maybe we can cry and save us, maybe we’ll run away’, so there was this continuous, kind of, you know… edge of hysteria. Even to the last moment”
“[...] We, um… my… not close family, but my people, my friend with his family, they were metal workers. They were electricians. They knew a lot of… professions in building and in electricity. And they were very smart, they saw that there was no other way, just they had to hide. They have to hide They couldn’t go out and fight. My friend who was then 21 years old and he wanted to go and to be with the fighters, or to go away to the woods and be a partisan. Again, I… I just couldn’t leave my sister Guta and Lutek and I bagged them, I said ‘look, Heniek, you go wherever you feel you have to go. And if the– we will be in two sides of the world, but the world would end and we will be together’. He didn’t– said heis not going alone. And he… he… didn’t go to the… places where he really wanted to go..He had a terrific will of… to leave. And I promised him he will leave no matter what. So they build this bunker. The bunker is a hiding place, under their factory. They moved their factory from the original place where they had it, and they moved it to another– they had to have permission from the Germans that they will work for the Germans, and the Germans who agreed to make this factory, they did for themselves because they were… they were supposed to go to the war, the… not everybody wanted
to fight, to go to the war and get killed, so they rather help Jews to build up a factory and to work for them. So they brought all their machines, all their equipments, and they build up a machine– a factory. Underneath of one machine, they made an opening, very discreet, nobody will know how to get them, and its so artistic, it was artistic built. And they need– they– they– digged down until they found water. And they build around a well. So, we would have water, even if they close up the water from the whole town. They build in electricity, independent electricity, not from the whole city. They prepared enough food, so they organized with his family, pharmacist, and with another man who was a specialist, how much calories-- and how much calories such and such amount of people can live at least two years, so they accumulate dry food and conserves and all kind of things that could stay in a– and, when time comes, we will be able to go and hiding.”
Underneath of one machine, they made an opening, very discreet, nobody will know how to get them, and its so artistic, it was artistic built. And they need– they– they– digged down until they found water. And they build around a well. So, we would have water, even if they close up the water from the whole town. They build in electricity, independent electricity, not from the whole city. They prepared enough food, so they organized with his family, pharmacist, and with another man who was a specialist, how much calories-- and how much calories such and such amount of people can live at least two years, so they accumulate dry food and conserves and all kind of things that could stay in a– and, when time comes, we will be able to go and hiding.
“[...] When they came back, the Banders [family name], they decided that no more this kind of living, we have to hide ourselves. And they started to work on a bunker. So they worked, September, October, November, December. In January 18, January 18 it was a little Aktion in Warsaw, because some of the underground people killed SS man. So they made an Aktion for three days. For three days they were killing Jews left and right, so the bunker was almost ready. Everybody went down and I… I resist I said I am not going. And I remained in the house which was in Rehov Kopietzka street, on the third floor we had this apartment. I didn’t go there. And it was finished but they were still working out, they made… shelves, then we could use it as sleeping places. There was a lot of work to do around, to build a place like that where supposed to be 22 people. But we wind up with 35 people inside. And they continue working, they build also for other people, because they… people who knew how to do it. This was going on until the 19 of April, when the uprising broke out [...]”
[bunker was burning down, they escaped outside]
“But this Lazer Bander, this father of this Heniek, this oldest man, he said he’s not moving from here. He build it with his own hands, and he… found a… a… a faucet where is water. With a one pail, he was carrying this water, and he spilled on the fire. You know, it was a scene that only a great artist would be able to paint. Flames, and this man with the.. Like.. a big hat, carrying a pail of water, against fire which goes up to the sky. But ali of us decided that we should look again, we should go on and leave, so we should look some place to hide again. He said - you go. He, what he did when the fire finally died out, he found himself a place in the well. There was the coolest place, so he told us that he would sit there, it was like a..ladder. And he would sit there until everything is– and you couldn’t halp him, you couldn’t talk to him. ‘I am not leaving, everybody should go’ and we were– done this with him. [...]”
“[...] and we walked, walked until we found again a... Basement, some kind of a basement, which was once a factory of batteries and stuff like this. So we all, somehow pushed in, all of us. And again they started to work like ants. Everybody looked for stones, for… whatever it was on hand to build up a wall, to close up. So… we were, again, closed up, and we were all together. But again, we started to feel that we don’t have air enough… um… so... This was the day, very hard, very difficult. And… at night we must go away, we must go out from there because we feel it’s very… congested, very… too small place for all of us.[...]”
You know, it was a scene that only a great artist would be able to paint. Flames, and this man with the... Like... a big hat, carrying a pail of water, against fire which goes up to the sky. Frieda Kliger
“My cousin Moniek was a partisan. And he came once when we were already… we lived at that time in the ground floor, and we had a bunker below us, and the way we enter the bunker was - we had a powder room. And the whole floor of the powder room lifted up. And so that you couldn’t see any trapdoor. (I forgot what I was telling you)...”
“You see, everything is relative. If you ask me what did you eat, I don’t remember and it doesn’t matter because there were other things in that point that bothered me much more. But certainly, there wasn’t enough food. We had some food in the bunkers. The bunkers were very very well equipped. We had a batteryrun lights, we had a battery-run... I think...I don’t recall all the details, but there was provision made for water, I don’t even remember how, and I don’t remember how real— it was probably like building a bunker so that the— for the atom bomb, to protect yourself from the atom bomb. Probably a lot of the preparation was more hope than in reality. It would suitable for survival.”
“[...] At that point, the people started to disappear. At that point, people started to think of, ok, the most thing that was in the fore– in your mind was, where do you hide. So people hide under beds, between blankets, between even mattresses. And of course you had to do it so smoothly, that you wouldn’t be found, in drawers, in cardboards, in the most unusual places. And of course, after a while they became common knowledge. So it also became a random thing. If the Germans poked their bayonet in your bed, if you were found – if you were hiding there you were found. We, it was a four-story building, so everyone in the row, in this one row, one on top of another, we out a wardrobe- Anne Frank style
(laughing) - we put a wardrobe in front of the door, and all of us in this building, we only stayed in one place. And that was in my friend’s Janka’s room. It was her room, but all the rooms were disguised by the closets. And there we sat, and all we could hear from behind the doors is when you could hear the screamings and the lapping, and the kicking and the shooting, and the screams, and then the most, most petrifying thing was when they walked through each apartment, and you could hear their boots, or their leaning against the closet, the wardrobe, or moving– looking inside the wardrobe. That, that was just… you know… that was just so, so petrifying because you were just a hair away from, from your
hunters, from your assailants. Then eventually you would hear that wailing and the noise it recede. And of course, you always think, oh they are trapping us, is it safe to come out? - and then, then the real wailing came out because people were afraid to cry. And when you heard this, this shrinking cries, these, these most heart-rendering screams, these outcries, then we knew that it was safe to step out. And then you slowly– we would move the wardrobe slowly, be careful, be careful, and then we would come out and we’d stare into the windows for any sign of light, and usually emptiness stared right back at us.”
the way we enter the bunker was - we had a powder room. And the whole floor of the powder room lifted up. And so that you couldn’t see any trapdoor.
“[…] some people had bunkers, and we went to the… after those people. We saw them go up the stairs and we went after them, and they went to the last level it think was the seventh floor and then we saw them go into an apartment and we went after them… and then they went to the kitchen, and the kitchen had a stove from… a… glue, from glue, how you call it? You know, those stoves from glue. And they open the stove and they climbed in, and we climbed after them. And then there was a small opening with a ladder, and they walked up and we walked after them, and then they came through another stove, through… and it was an attic… which was a bunker, and they were already maybe 70 people in this bunker [end of tape].
[new tape] Yeah, so… we went through that oven, and we came into an attic. And in that attic were already about 70 people, women, men, a few children - not many because there weren’t too many children were left in Warsaw by that time... And those people prepared themselves for the bunker, there was not canalization, just pails, a few pails with cold water, there was a few sacks with bread, dried like toasted, you know?. And… they were very surprised how we got there, but didn’t say anything, they received us. And there was a few straw sacks, like from straw mattresses. And quietly we… sat down with the rest of the people, and the people downstairs were lined up and they were evacuated. And Warsaw was supposed to be from that day clean from Jews.”
And they open the stove and they climbed in, and we climbed after them. And then there was a small opening with a ladder, and they walked up and we walked after them, and then they came through another stove, through… and it was an attic… which was a bunker, and they were already maybe 70 people in this bunker.
“[...] There was a saying in the Ghetto- “just hide”, this was the best workshop- hide. That was just the only way. That was the safest way.
What we have done is we have bricked up a wall adjoining the last room. We have painted it to look like the other part of the wall. There was a wardrobe, with clothing, pushed over that bricked up wall. And we climbed up to the flat above ours. And the room
that was exactly above the one that we have enclosed was full of old pieces of furniture. We cut out a piece of parquet floor to come down after opening, also breaking through the ceiling. And we could go down to that room, which was actually the last one in our apartment. There was a ladder placed, and the last person who went down the ladder pulled over the cot, an old cot that was there, over that opening and the flap was pulled over, closed. And
we were sitting in this room for quite a long time. We were coming out only at night, into our apartment to cook a bit of food, a bit of soup. We had some fat, it was actually horse fat. It was yellow. It was the only thing we could obtain. My father didn’t know, he didn’t know that was a different color. But when he suspected it, we had to admit to him and he stopped eating it. We had to have some fat in our bodies.”
What we have done is we have bricked up a wall adjoining the last room. We have painted it to look like the other part of the wall. There was a wardrobe, with clothing, pushed over that bricked up wall. And we climbed up to the flat above ours. And the room that was exactly above the one that we have enclosed was full of old pieces of furniture. We cut out a piece of parquet floor to come down after opening, also breaking through the ceiling. And we could go down to that room, which was actually the last one in our apartment. There was a ladder placed, and the last person who went down the ladder pulled over the cot, an old cot that was there, over that opening and the flap was pulled over, closed.
“[...] We had no other way but to climb out! And we were just very lucky. We were thoughtful before, because we prepared another bunker in readiness. It was just a thought and we were really lucky, because we found a place in the last courtyard of the same building, mila 19, a cellar where people used to store before the war potatoes and coal for the winter months. There were little cubicles. And in the very last large cubicle we have prepared shelves, and stored a bit of food like dried farfel and some fat, water, candles. And when we had to leave that room that we were in, that we were hiding in, on the front façade of mila 19, we all went down to this cellar. We pulled on old toilet that was lying- a broken piece of toilet just close to the door, and we went and we sat there, in that cellar, venturing out only at night. We got out to get a bit of fresh air, get some food outside. We couldn’t stand up in this cellar. We were all sitting and leaning against each other. It was very stuffy. The candles wouldn’t even burn, for lack of oxygen. But we were still alive. [...]”
There was a saying in the Ghetto- “just hide”, this was the best workshop- hide. That was just the only way. That was the safest way.Hela Blumenthal
We couldn’t stand up in this cellar. We were all sitting and leaning against each other. It was very stuffy. The candles wouldn’t even burn, for lack of oxygen. But we were still alive.
“[...] And in the meantime, while my parents were in this laundry factory, we know that sooner or later– I didn’t know as a child– but my parents anticipate that sooner or later they will–we all going to be taken to be killed. So my parents build in the kitchen– my father, I don’t know how he smuggled–apparently it was made with brick, and obviously what he did, he probably stole when they were building the wall of bricks in front. Because was nothing in this small ghetto. He stole brick, And concrete, and whatever. And he build a wall in the kitchen. The kitchen wasn’t small in this place as I recall. a wall to shorten the wall of the kitchen, by approximately, when I look now, probably would be like two feet to maybe… not three feet even. But maybe 30 inches. And what he did- we’re living on the last floor in the building, above us was an attic. And so he blocked this wall, he painted over, so in much the same color as the wall. And he did that months before what’s happened. And he did on top of the attic, through the ceiling, he cut out a square that barely you could slide in, like a square, made a box, and in the attic was a lot of dirt, loose dirt and all this– was camouflage. And it was dark,
in this attic. And he prepared a sitting area on each side of the, in the hiding place, a one, like maybe 8 inched board on one side, and one board on the other side of the wall, inside, so when we sat we sat across each other with the knees between each other, because he also confronted, apparently I don’t know why but was another couple with a little girl, they were younger people, they were from Germany, which they were sent from Germany into Warsaw. And they were working for this place. So apparently my father befriended them, or maybe they contribute to the built of that wall, or whatever. So supposedly seven people- myself, my father, mother, and my brother and the couple with the child were supposed to be in that area. So that where we were sitting on the middle shelf was a full shelf, so we could from one corner, go up and two people could lay there, sleep, two people at a time. And on the third shelf was some food prepared, like water and some dry bread whatever we had I don’t remember. And in the outside wall of that kitchen was also brick, so when we moved in or when my father build that double wall, he- with a knife- dagged out the mortar from one
brick, so we could see what’s happen on the outside because that back wall was facing a big area, empty area, not buildings or anything like that. And the brick was there, but without the mortar, so we could look around that mortar to see what’s happen outside, if it’s day or night or whatever, because we were sitting in and hiding there. But this I remember this was already prepared for us, but this was prepared for the final solution [...]”
And he did on top of the attic, through the ceiling, he cut out a square that barely you could slide in, like a square, made a box, and in the attic was a lot of dirt, loose dirt and all this– was camouflage. And it was dark, in this attic. And he prepared a sitting area on each side of the, in the hiding place, a one, like maybe 8 inched board on one side, and one board on the other side of the wall, inside, so when we sat we sat across each other with the knees between each other.
And in the outside wall of that kitchen was also brick, so when we moved in or when my father build that double wall, he- with a knife- dagged out the mortar from one brick, so we could see what’s happen on the outside because that back wall was facing a big area, empty area, not buildings or anything like that. And the brick was there, but without the mortar, so we could look around that mortar to see what’s happen outside, if it’s day or night or whatever, because we were sitting in and hiding there.
“[...] And when the action started, the German started to take people to Umshlagplatz and, you know, from there by train to concentration camps, my father discovered that there is that one little room, can be a hiding place for us, because that was I recall it was an enormous antique wardrobe. And my father took the inner wall out, and put some screws, you know? He knew about it, and he tie it up from the inside. So in other words, when we went there he put the missing part - nothing was visible - and the frame of the door was lower than the wardrobe. So no one could even suggest that there is another room, also, what was lucky, it was a coincident that in that little room, there was a window, high up, it was sort of half-of-a-window, and they couldn’t see us, and it was going to the next number. Like this was number 9, so that was 11, you see? So it was
a perfect hiding place. And people, every time it was the action, you know- people were hiding anywhere, anywhere, and mostly they were running up, up to these- you know–under the roof. But the Germans and the police always found them, you see? And what else was there- my father had a…[non-English word]...what you–you know- for the wood, to break the wood, how do you—[*an axe?*]- Axe! He had an axe, and it was, like he would be in a trance. He was working on that axe, he was sharping it up all the time. We were petrified, and we didn’t want to stay there. And my father was so energetic, he said- “you not only stay, you lie flat. And whoever will come, will be killed. No matter who, German, or police, Polish police or Jewish Police. No one will come out alive from this place.” That what he did. And this was the way we survived until that time.”
It was an enormous antique wardrobe. And my father took the inner wall out, and put some screws, you know? He knew about it, and he tie it up from the inside. So in other words, when we went there he put the missing part - nothing was visible - and the frame of the door was lower than the wardrobe. So no one could even suggest that there is another room [...]
He [her father] had an axe, and it was, like he would be in a trance. He was working on that axe, he was sharping it up all the time. We were petrified, and we didn’t want to stay there. And my father was so energetic, he said- “you not only stay, you lie flat. And whoever will come, will be killed. No matter who, German, or police, Polish police or Jewish Police. No one will come out alive from this place”
Interviewer: “We are getting close to the point of April 19th, 1943”
Blake: “Correct. At that time, we had a group of us, ZOB, was in the Jewish hospital, of course. And we have prepared through help and through really inventiveness of Mr Gurewicz, whom I mentioned beforethe chocolate maker- whose daughter worked with us and whom we took to the hospital too, and her parents because she worked in the pharmacy. So we prepared a rather large and elaborate place where, I would say, 300 people were hidden. That place was quite elaborate because we had underground tunnels from there to [Polish street name] 22. We had underground tunnels through the whole– up to the place in the other side of the Warsaw, once upon a time, ghetto was there, where was the building, once upon a time, of my gymnasium. And the tunnels connected with the sewage– quite elaborate. We had a storage there, a big amount of food, and this was the situation with the hiding place.
And we had that hiding place on the– and just when they started– the ghetto–we started shooting one way or another, went back to the hiding place, and most of the sick ones in the hospital, still in the hospital, the ones we couldn’t save, the ones we couldn’t take with us, we gave them injections for cyanide. This was the beginning. And then, we wanted to fight. [...]”
So we prepared a rather large and elaborate place where, I would say, 300 people were hidden. That place was quite elaborate because we had underground tunnels from there
Stable Diffusion, Prompt: "the Jewish uprising in 1943 in Warsaw Ghetto"
“[...] We were staying about a week. They were searching the houses, I remember in the apartment I was staying with my brother and a few others. They had a hiding place in the– from the kitchen, they closed up a door with a big dresser that covered the door. And we pulled it up to cover the room away from the kitchen. And I remember we hear Germans coming up the steps, we were hiding there, they come in into the house, they walk around, look and didn’t find anything, didn’t hear anything, and walked away [...]”
“
Soon enough my father decided that the time had come for us to go to our bunker. When we go to work he said now we are going to go to our bunker, and not come out anymore. The bunker that we had on Ogradova 29 prepared for us because he could feel already that things were going to go bad for us as well, but the catch you see, it was coming to Pesach and my father said that, and my mother- lets be together with Jewish people, Juden Pesach, and said after Pesach we will go to our bunker and won’t come out anymore. It was 1943, in April. That’s when my parents made their mistake because the Germans used to do all the most terrible things to Jewish people on Jewish holidays, and they started the aktion. I remember that the Jewish people had bunkers all over the place- attics, cellars, everywhere. And some very nice people, I remember we
were eating Mazza, it was Pesach, and some very nice people took us to into their bunker, it was the most terrible difficult place to get into the bunker, what they did was a bricked up room, in all the floors, and this bunker, you only went to this one room, but so the Germans don’t know that there is another room in each apartment, they bricked it up. And we had to go through a oven you know, and we stayed there not very long because someone came and said get out of here quickly, they put the house on fire. We ran. Eventually we came to another house, and in that house we got to another bunker. People let us into the bunker. It was in a cellar. And it was a lot of people there [...]”
some very nice people took us to into their bunker, it was the most terrible difficult place to get into the bunker, what they did was a bricked up room, in all the floors, and this bunker, you only went to this one room, but so the Germans don’t know that there is another room in each apartment, they bricked it up. And we had to go through a oven you know, and we stayed there not very long because someone came and said get out of here quickly, they put the house on fire.
“... So we started to build this hiding. Our house was next door to a building ruined in WW2. And there were only ruins. But guess what? the cellars underneath the ruins remained intact. So we built a tunnel, or more accurately, dug a tunnel, and we reached the walls of those cellars, broke part of the wall and got inside - they were intact. It’s hard for me to describe how we built the camouflage later. But it was built in a very good way so the Germans couldn’t figure it out. And in the winter of 43’ the Germans got inside the ghetto, wanted to demolish the ghetto. Of course we went into hiding straight away, and by that time of winter of 43’ the resistance was starting, the Jewish uprising...”
“... The way we prepared the hiding - Since some of the people, as I mentioned, were still working on the Aryan side - they were our food suppliers. We mostly prepared toasts because we knew it could last for a long period of time, and all kinds of fats were brought from the Aryan side, and they even managed to smuggle a water pump. Because we were afraid the Germans might disconnect us from the water supply and we won’t have water. So we dug in this hiding, we dug and we managed to set the water pump, and we had a water supply. The thing we didn’t have in this hiding was ventilation. We were afraid the Germans might find our hiding place because of it since they were walking with dogs, dogs that can smell you, and we were afraid they will find us. And then, in April 1943, a large German force walked into the ghetto and they came across severe resistance from the Jewish underground forces. There was shooting, and we got straight to our bunker and stayed there [...] We were there until May 1st. In the bunker, the day was night and the night was day since the Germans were entering the ghetto during the day. They were walking around with different tools and machines, standing and listening next to cellar windows looking for Jews. Then they would throw grenades at the houses and set them on fire. That way, people who were hiding there were coming out or if they set the house on fire you could see people jumping from the 3rd or 4th floor. I saw it with my own eyes. How people jump outside of the windows. And we were sitting in the bunker, turning the day to night and the night to day, because as I mentioned the Germans would enter the ghetto during the day, and too afraid to enter the ghetto at night. So the nights were quiet in the ghetto. So we were thinking if the nights are quiet, then we can walk around the bunker and talk, open up the opening to go and get some fresh air. Because in our case, all the people in the bunker were living in the same building [yard], about 70 people. All of us went into that bunker to hide so none will talk or tell about it, no one could snitch. So everyone was in the bunker. But what happened to us?During the day while we were sitting there, breathing, in the evening there was no air left in the bunker. And I remember
all of us running towards the door and I remember looking at the people, how everyone are walking with their breath [demonstrating heavy breathing], we simply had no air left to breathe. We used all the air that was there, with no fresh air coming in. But thank god, when it started to get dark the Germans went out of the ghetto and we could open the bunker and get some fresh air in the courtyard. And so we left the bunker open and we stayed on guard until sunrise. At sunrise everyone would go back inside, we closed the entrance and just set there in the bunker. One night, when I went out, I got up to the second floor of a building around that courtyard to see what the ghetto looks like. It was horrifying. The entire ghetto was burning. I went back down because I couldn’t look at it anymore. I went back to the bunker, and this is how it goes until May 1st 43’ [...]”
“[...] We had no choice, the turmoil in the bunker was severe. Some tried to escape, but there was no way out except for the chimney. There was a chimney there. Some got inside it, but it was impossible. I can see it in front of my eyes until this day [...]”
ןיינב םע לבג ונלש תיבה .הזה אובחמה תא תונבל ונלחתה זאו …״ לבא .תוסירה קר ויה םשו .השרוב היינשה םלועה תמחלמב סרהנש ,הרהנמ ונינב ונחנא זא .םימלש וראשנ תוסירהל תחתמ םיפתרמה ?המ ונרבש ,הלאה םיפתרמה לש ריקל דע ונעגהו ,הרהנמ ןוכנ רתוי ונרפח תצק יל השק .םימלש ויה םיפתרמה - םינפב ונסנכנו ריקהמ קלח ךכ ןייוצמ יושע היה הז לבא ,האווסהה תא ךכ רחא ונינב ךיא ראתל סנכיהל םינמרגה וליחתה ׳43 ףרוחבו .הז לע םילוע ויה אל םינמרגהש םינמרגהו ,אובחמל רשי ונדרי ןבומכ ונחנא .וטגה תא לסחל וצרו וטגל תידוהיה תרתחמה לש תודגנתהב רבכ ולקתנ ,׳43 ףרוחב ,רבכ זא ״…זא רבכ תמייק התייהש
קלחו רחאמ - אובחמב ונכה המו אובחמה תא ונכה ונחנא ךיא …״ םיקפסה ויה הלא זא ,יראה דצב ודבע דוע ,יתרמאש ומכ ,םישנאהמ
רשפא םימינצש ונעדי יכ ,םימינצ בור יפ לע ונכה .לכוא לש ונלש
וליפא ואיבהו יראה דצהמ ואיבהש םינמוש ינימ לכ .ןמז הברה קיזחהל וקתני םינמרגהש ונדחפ ונחנא יכ .םימ תבאשמ חירבהל וחילצה
ונרפח ,אובחמה ךותב המש ונרפח זא .םימ ונל ויהי אלו םימהמ ונתוא
ונל היה אלש המ .םימ וליפא ונל ויהו ,הבאשמה תא ביכרהל ונחלצהו יכ ,ונתוא ולגי םינמרגה רורוואה ידי לעש ונדחפ יכ ,רורווא הז אובחמב ולגי הז ידי לעש ונדחפו ,םיחירמ ויהש םיבלכ ,הרימש יבלכ םע וכלה םה ולקתנ םה זאו לודג חוכ לע םינרמגה וסנכנ 1943 לירפאב ,זאו .ונתוא ונחנא ,תוירי וליחתה ,תידוהיה תרתחמהמ הפירח תודגנתהב רבכ רקנובב תבשל ונקפסה ונחנא ]...[ רקנובב ונבשיו רקנובל רשי ונדרי ,םויל הלילהו הלילל םויה תא ונכפה רקנובב .יאמל ןושארה דע הזה ינימ לכ םע םיכלוה ויה םה .וטגב םויב םיבבותסמ ויה םינמרגהש ןוויכמ ,םיאובחמ הזיא ןיא םא םיפתרמה לש תונולח די לע םיעמושו םירישכמ םיתיצמ ,םינומיר םיקרוז םיתבה לע ויה םה ךכ רחא .םידוהי ושפיחו םהשכ םישנאש וא םיאצוי ויהש וא היה דועש ימ הככו ,םיתבה לכ תא -תישילשה המוקהמ םיצפוק םישנא תוארל היה רשפא ןיינב ותיצה ונבשי ונחנאו .תונולחהמ םיצפוק םישנאש ךיא .יתיאר ינא .תיעיבר ומכ םינמרגהש ןוויכ םויל הלילו הלילל םויה תא ונכפה ,רקנובב הלילב זא .וטגל סנכיהל ודחפ םה הלילב ,םויב םיבבותסמ ויה יתרמאש ונחנא זא ,וטגב טקש הלילב םא- הככ ונרמא ונחנא זא .וטגב טקש היה תאצלו חתפה תא חותפל ,רבדלו ישפוח רקנובב בבותסהל םילוכי ויהש םישנאה לכ רקנובל ונדרי ונחנא ,הרקש המ יכ .ריווא תצק םושנל
תנמ לע רקנובל ודרי םלוכ .שיא םיעבשכ ונייה ,רצח התואב םירג זא וא ןישלהל לכוי אלש ,והשמ לע רפסל וא דיעהל לכויש והשימ היהי אלש המש ונבשישכ םויה ךשמב ?הרק המ לבא .רקנובל ודרי םלוכ .הזכ והשמ ונלוכש ךיא רכוז ינאו .רקנובב ריווא היה אל רבכ ברעה תארקל ,ונמשנו םיכלוה םלוכש ךיא ,םישנאה לע לכתסמ יתייה ינאו חתפה ןוויכל ונצר ,םושנל המ םע היה אל רבכ ,]הדבכ המישנ םיגדמ[ הככ המישנה םע רבכ .רקנובל סנכנ אל ירט ריוואו ריוואה לכ תא ונלצינ .ריווא רסח היה טושפ לש תולועפה וקיספה ,ךישחהל ליחתהשכ ברע תארקל ,לאל הדות לבא ,רצחל ,ררוואתהל םיאצוי ויה םלוכו רקנובה תא וחתפ זאו םינמרגה דע רמשמה לע ונדמעו חותפ היה חתפה הככו ,ריווא תצק סופתלו תא םירגוס ויה ,םיסנכנ ויה םלוכ םעפ בוש רקוב תונפל .רקוב תונפל יתילעו יתאצי ינא חתפה תא וחתפשכ ,דחא ברע .ונבשי הככו חתפה לכ .העווז היה הז .וטגה הארנ ךיא תוארל ,רצחב ןיינבב היינש המוקל םייחב יתיאר אל הזכ הזחמ ,ביבסמ תובהלב דמע לכה .רעב ביבסמ וטגה ,רתוי הז לע לכתסהל יתלוכי אל יכ הרזחב יתדרי זאו .רעב לכה .ילש ״]...[ ׳43 יאמל ןושארה דע רקנובב ונבשי הככו רקנובל הרזחב יתדרי
הלאכ ויה .הלודג התייה רקנובב המוהמה ,הרירב התייה אל זאו ]...[״
םש התייה .הבוראה ךרד אלא טולימ יכרד ויה אל לבא ,טלמיהל
םלועה תמחלמב סרהנש ןיינב םע לבג ונלש תיבה
?המ לבא .תוסירה קר ויה םשו .השרוב היינשה
זא .םימלש וראשנ תוסירהל תחתמ םיפתרמה
,הרהנמ ןוכנ רתוי ונרפח ,הרהנמ ונינב ונחנא
קלח ונרבש ,הלאה םיפתרמה לש ריקל דע ונעגהו
.םימלש ויה םיפתרמה - םינפב ונסנכנו ריקהמ
תא ךכ רחא ונינב ךיא ראתל תצק יל השק
םינמרגהש ךכ ןייוצמ יושע היה הז לבא ,האווסהה
.הז לע םילוע ויה אל
Our house was next door to a building ruined in WW2. And there were only ruins. But guess what? the cellars underneath the ruins remained intact. So we built a tunnel, or more accurately, dug a tunnel, and we reached the walls of those cellars, broke part of the wall and got inside - they were intact. Its hard for me to describe how we built the camouflage later. But it was built in a very good way so the Germans couldnt figure it out.
During the day while we were sitting there breathing, in the evening there was no air left in the bunker. And I remember all of us running towards the door and I remember looking at the people, how everyone are walking with their breath [demonstrating heavy breathing], we simply had no air left to breathe. We used all the air that was there, with no fresh air coming in. But thank god, when it started to get dark the Germans went out of the ghetto and we could open the bunker and get some fresh air in the courtyard. And so we left the bunker open and we stayed on guard until sunrise.
ריווא היה אל רבכ ברעה תארקל ,ונמשנו המש ונבשישכ םויה ךשמב ?הרק המ לבא
ךיא ,םישנאה לע לכתסמ יתייה ינאו חתפה ןוויכל ונצר ונלוכש ךיא רכוז ינאו .רקנובב
המ םע היה אל רבכ ,]הדבכ המישנ םיגדמ[ הככ המישנה םע רבכ םיכלוה םלוכש
לבא .רקנובל סנכנ אל ירט ריוואו ריוואה לכ תא ונלצינ .ריווא רסח היה טושפ ,םושנל
וחתפ זאו םינמרגה לש תולועפה וקיספה ,ךישחהל ליחתהשכ ברע תארקל ,לאל הדות
היה חתפה הככו ,ריווא תצק סופתלו ,רצחל ,ררוואתהל םיאצוי ויה םלוכו רקנובה תא .רקוב תונפל דע רמשמה לע ונדמעו חותפ
Interviewer: “So this went on until early 1943?”
Guta: “42’ I think when they started to liquidate everything. When we were working for the Germans we thought that we are the one that will be safe. But it looks like one day they started to… actually, they started to burn the ghetto, where the people were not working, just hiding. There was one ghetto and a open one. Ours was a closed one, for the working people. Hmm… well, people got smarter, and when they knew whats going on, so people were hiding. We used to make bunkers, made bunkers in the cellars, made bunkers on top of… of… on the floor and used to close the door, and got through the roof end, we had a step ladder and we used to take the step ladder in. But it didn’t help. We prepared in advance we prepared some food, cause we thought if... The last will be gone. We thought that the war is going to an end, but it wasn’t [...]”
Stable Diffusion, Prompt:
"an underground Jewish bunker under a cellar in Warsaw Ghetto in world war 2. The bunker is small but crowded. a step ladder leads to the entrance"
Well, in order for us to cook, we had to use the stove, there was no gas or anything like that. Now, if the smoke would come out of the house that we were in, then they would know somebody is there. So they diverted it to another house. There weren’t that many bunkers, it’s not that you did it on the expense of somebody else. The only two ones that I knew were the ones that the house that we lived in.
“...[talking about her father] He was a very… a rare individual, very capable to just… build a bunker by itself and have the electricity coming from the German border, had this… smoke coming out to another house.
Interviewer: could you explain that? About the electricity?
Sophie: well, in order for us to cook, we had to use the stove, there was no gas or anything like that. Now, if the smoke would come out of the house that we were in, then they would know somebody is there. So they diverted it to another house. There weren’t that many bunkers, it’s not that you did it on the expense of somebody else. The only two ones that I knew were the ones that the house that we lived in.
Interviewer: and the electricity came from…?
Sophie: The electricity came from the German border, you know, the border of the ghetto, from the wire, barbed wires. That’s where it came from because they always had it [...]”
“[...] Somebody escaped on the train from Treblinka. And he came back. And word got around very quickly. Because they took out so many people, nobody ever returned. So, if you take people to work, they eventually come home. But they never came back. Somebody escaped on the train, came back to Warsaw. And they knew about it. That’s when they [...] building the bunker. Hide out as many people as you could. And you were afraid to have other people, because you didn’t know who was who. It must have been about at least 35-40 people in the bunker. And then another one in our house, too. On the other side. It was a very big house. Are you familiar with [...] high school? Where they have the big court? The house was all around. So there was another one, and we knew them, we knew the people, because it was in the same house.
Interviewer: And you had food and water?
Sophie: As little food as there was. Water, yes. Everything else we had. Everything else we had.
Interviewer: What do you remember about being in the bunker?
Sophie: [takes a deep breath] cold. damp. people being upset, people being nervous, other people screaming. There were too many people in too little space. Umm... trying, trying to be as quiet as you could, at that time. Making yourself (??) so you shouldn’t be in somebody else’s way. If you had a book you were lucky, if not you would just… vegetating there. I wasn’t really alive, I wasn’t alive. Not in the sense that you know life, not at all.
Interviewer: Were you afraid?
Sophie: of course. Of course, we were afraid. We were afraid every minute of the day. I remembering two days before they took us out, it was the second day of Passover [...]”
Interviewer: What do you remember about being in the bunker?
Sophie: [takes a deep breath] cold. damp. people being upset, people being nervous, other people screaming. There were too many people in too little space. Umm... trying, trying to be as quiet as you could, at that time. Making yourself (??) so you shouldn’t be in somebody else’s way. If you had a book you were lucky, if not you would just… vegetating there. I wasn’t really alive, I wasn’t alive. Not in the sense that you know life, not at all.
“[...] My father used to come back from the “shop”* to bring me something to eat, and then disappear for the rest of the night. And in the morning before going back to the “shop”, he was covered with soil, in his ears, nose and in his shirt’s collar. And I keep asking ‘what have you been doing? what have you been doing?’ - but he never told me. Today, I assume he dugged bunkers because in those days the people were preparing for the uprising. They used to create passages from house to house so they won’t need to go out, so they could get through. According to what I was reading afterwards - because I wasn’t part of the uprising, I witnessed it from outside - during the uprising they were moving through the houses and the sewege systems and prepared bunkers, because no one belived one can stay alive after the uprising start. So the people needed a place to hide, because an uprising attampt took part in January that year, I remember they were talking about a few Germans being killed...”
*shop Többens and Schultz was a Nazi German textile manufacturing conglomerate making German uniforms, socks and garments in the Warsaw Ghetto
היה אוהשכ ילש אבא זאו ]...[ ״
אוה ,*פושל ךלוה היה אוהש ינפל רזוח היה אוה רקובבו .הלילה לכל
לכ ינאו ,ןוראווצה ךותבו ףאבו םיינזואב ,המדא םע הסוכמ דימת היה
םעפ ףא אוה ׳?השוע התא המ ?השוע התא המ׳ ותוא יתלאש ןמזה
ןמז ותואב זא יכ ,םירקנוב רפח אוהש תרעשמ ינא םויה .יל רמא אל
וכרטצי אלש תיבל תיב ןיב םיחתפ םישוע םג ויה זא ,דרמל וננוכתה
לש המחולה לכ םג יכ רובעל היהי רשפאש קר ,הצוחה רצחהמ תאצל תא ינא םינפב יתייה אל ינא יכ יתארק ךכ רחא ינאש המ יפל ,ירה דרמה וניכהו בויבה תולעת ךרדו םיתבה ךרד היה הז זא - ץוחבמ יתיאר דרמה
רשפא תמאב זא דרמה ליחתיש עגרבש ןימאה אל דחא ףא יכ םירקנוב דרמל ןויסנ היה יכ ,רותסמ תומוקמ ךירצ היה זא .םייחב ראשיהל היהי ״…םינמרג וגרהש דרמ הזיא לע ורביד ראוניבש תרכוז ינא ,ראוניב רבכ פוש* ויה ץלושו סנבט הוורפ ילעפמ תולעבב ליטסקטו ולעפש תינמרג
תבוטל ,השרו וטגב םירצומ רוציי .ינמרגה אבצה רובע
Stable Diffusion, Prompt:
"Top view of an underground city of bunkers and cellars build in the Warsaw ghetto 1943"
Stable Diffusion, Prompt (using ChatGPT: "Create an illustration of the Warsaw Ghetto, brimming with life, culture, and resilience. The neighbourhood extends outward, untouched by the devastat"
“[...] And we had, where I used to live in (Świętojerska), we prepared before, we started preparing the bunkers. And we had bunkers prepared. And that was a few months before the uprising, the Jewish uprising that was on the 19th of April. That what I’m talking about happened in January. But the bunkers have been prepared. And where I used to live the bunkers were prepared with food, and the bunker, one of the bunkers was made under the ruins of a bombed house. It was, I think, Świętojerska 36. But I don’t know don’t remember exactly if it was 36 or 34… I think I used to live in 38 and this bombed house was 36, and under this bombed house was prepared a bunker.
Interviewer: Who prepared the bunker?
Erna: Ummm... there were who... There were people from those houses, and there was this underground was already working, and this Jewish organization and they were collecting at that time they were already buying and collecting (??) and they were collecting money, and they had some… but they didn’t talk, you know, open about it [...]”
“[...] This bunker, which we prepared, was prepared for about 80 people, with food and there was always also a kind of entrance to the Aryen side. But when they started to burn the houses, you know, people were in different - sometimes they were hidden in the houses and the houses started to burn, they had to go away. Anyway, to our bunker instead of 80 people were 180 people. We were going out at night, to, you know, bringing some food. There was some food but we had to divide the food for so many people [...]”
“Well, we came back to the ghetto. And I don’t have to tell you, the propaganda went on. And we knew what’s going on. And people start to build bunkers. And we became the builders of the bunkers. We had the lumber, we had the machinery to cut it and so on and so forth. And, I mean people were building bunkers to stay there for years, I mean, different places, basements, digging holes underground, I mean… imagination was flying. The more money you had, the better bunker you got. Less money you had- you took a bedroom, you took... a...closet, which, you know, we didn’t have any closets. How do you call it… a… how you say it in English? -an armour. You know you put an armour, you cut it out, you cut into the next room, and you know everybody help themselves whichever way they could.
Interviewer: Were the Germans aware that you were building bunkers?
Henry: No. Again, I’m sure that somebody told them. You had a lot of Jews who weren’t so Kosher, they were working with the Germans. Thank god it wasn’t many, but it was, you know, for the whisky of whatever of for the woman or whatever it is- there were collaborators with the Germans. And whatever was going in the ghetto, they Germans had a pretty good idea. So anyway, we start to build the bunkers. and you know, people would bring in supplies, you know, dry food and dry fruit, and, you know people thought they were gonna be there for a month or two or a year, whatever it takes -they’re gonna survive in that bunker.
Interviewer: Did you do the ones for the underground? Did you see any of the underground people?
Henry: The underground had no bunkers. As far as I know. Now, I got in contact with... I was in touch with the underground from the small ghetto. I didn’t know anything about, you know, about the big ghetto what was going on. But I know they didn’t had no bunkers. They were… young people, my age, two or three years older, with a philosophy, well, we’re not gonna go and die just like lambs
to be slaughtered. We’re gonna do something about it. But anyway, we’re not gonna die by going to slaughter. And they had their guns, and they had Molotov cocktails…
Interviewer: did you work with them?
Henry: I was involved with them. But I didn’t have a gun.
Interviewer: How were you involved?
Henry: Because I was with a group that was building the bunkers. And I was with a group that we start to put planks and making holes through the attic, that you could go from one building to the other, we could go through the whole ghetto almost, without going out on the street, ok?. And they weren’t aware of it. Well, not everybody was aware of it, so happen I was with the guys that knocking off the walls and making the holes and putting in the planks, and, you know… to walk from one attic to the other, and not to go on the street, which during the day that was the only way you could have gone from house to house to house, because the Germans were, you know…
Interviewer: And the underground was using this?
Henry: Yes, yes. Well, the underground after a while of the... You know, through guys like us and maybe before that, but they didn’t have the complete knowledge. And I met a group of… I think it was 2 girls and 3 guys, or 2 girls and 2 guys, who were from the underground. And when I say “from the underground”, it really was not organised. It was small groups and they were working together, they were very patriotic, to a point of being fanatic. They might change the faith of the Jewish people. Devoted. Devoted, nice young people… And because I knew what it was, and I liked him, nice, and I was a loner. So I joined them and then I was showing them how he could go from building to building to building to building, and I was running with him. Maybe I threw Molotov cocktail here and there, but I wouldn’t say I was one from the… as the group.
And people start to build bunkers. And we became the builders of the bunkers. We had the lumber, we had the machinery to cut it and so on and so forth. And, I mean people were building bunkers to stay there for years, I mean, different places, basements, digging holes underground, I mean… imagination was flying. The more money you had, the better bunker you got.
Interviewer: Were you armed? Did you have a gun?
Henry: No. Never had a gun. No. Through all my life, I never had a gun. That’s why I never wanted to be a cop or I never wanted to be a foreman, let me work in the kitchen and I’ll be happy. So I did not have a gun. They did, they had two guns. Between the three of them or four of them, they had two guns. And things started to get real bad, you know, we’re throwing Molotov cocktails at the Germans, you know, we didn’t wait to see how many was killed or how many was not killed, just keep on running because, you know, they could… so we’re always on the go, on the go, on the go.
Interviewer: Do you remember the first time that the uprising started? Or the first thing that happened?
Henry: Yes, the first night of the Passover. It’s typical in April, but which April…? I don’t know.
Interviewer: 43?
Henry: Oh, I know in 1943 but which date, you know, it was in April 1943. Umm.. so… we were running during the day because at night it was no Germans. The Germans would not be in the ghetto at night. We heard about the tank going in and into the main ghetto, and they throw Molotov cocktails and put it on fire, and the Germans pulled out. We have communication, you know, it was quite a good communication.
Interviewer: Who were you communicating with?
Henry: Runners. Indie organization if you can call it organized. It was all on “I know you and you know me”, that’s it. So… so during the day, you know, we were running. But at night we could go out and walk the streets. But at that time the ghetto was on fire. The Germans were throwing in, how do you call it, the fire with guns, you know… [interviewer: like a flame throwers?] flame throwers, right. So the whole ghetto was on fire. That’s how they got the Jews out, like rats.
Get them out of the buildings, and taking them to the Umshlagplatz. So anyway, at night when we would walk, well, during the day the smoke was so… it was… terrible, I mean, you couldn’t see. So we used to seat in a basement and there was water in there, you know, and I wear a white sweater I remember I took it off and I made it wet and I put it on my face so I could breathe through it. But it came to a point that my vision got blurred, I almost got blind. I could see but I couldn’t see. Everything was like through a fog.
Interviewer: Because of the smoke and the burning, and the cinder?
Henry: yeah, yeah. And then we were all wet because actually, we were sitting in water because the heat was tremendous. And we were walked the sidewalks, we were dripping you could hear it like iron on a wet “psss… psss…”, the sidewalks were hot from the fire that was going on.
And I knew where all the bunkers are, you know, so every day we would go to a different bunker and I knew the people, they would let us in, and they would feed us - whatever you called ‘feed us’, you know, have a little bit of soup, water, whatever. And we went to that bunker it was well suppliednobody was there. Empty. Well, we were hungry, so the girls made a little fire, they had like a little chimney going up. It was like a four-story building and this was like all the way down in the basement, maybe even a level below. And I knew the layout because I helped build the bunker. And a lot of food, a lot of… So they made something to eat. We were tired… and we fall asleep. Just… just the morning start to break, we hear German soldiers. And stayed right near the door, it wasn’t a door it was like a flop. And they said ‘Come on out! Because if not we were gonna put grenades in’. With your hands up. I couldn’t even see. My eyes were burning. We went out, it was already almost like daytime, with our hands up. I wore a watch that my grandfather gave it to me for my Bar Mitzva, the soldiers say, you know, take it off, give it away. Went through
our pockets. I had a little bit of money, you know, from building the bunkers. And I said to myself - how did they know that we were there? - coming out, I see it. From the chimney, there was a little bit of smoke. Usually, when we stayed at any other bunker, we made a fire at night, but when we were done cooking we put the fire out. This time we were so tired, and we just… forgot. And that what they saw, the smoke. And they already cleared that bunker out once. [...]”
Because I was with a group that was building the bunkers. And I was with a group that we start to put planks and making holes through the attic, that you could go from one building to the other, we could go through the whole ghetto almost, without going out on the street
I said to myself - how did they know that we were there? - coming out, I see it. From the chimney, there was a little bit of smoke. Usually, when we stayed at any other bunker, we made a fire at night, but when we were done cooking we put the fire out. This time we were so tired, and we just… forgot.
So anyway, we start to build the bunkers. and you know, people would bring in supplies, you know, dry food and dry fruit, and, you know people thought they were gonna be there for a month or two or a year, whatever it takes -they’re gonna survive in that bunker.
“[...] We stayed with her [aunt], and she asked us so badly to stay with her. But we didn’t want to, because they didn’t work in any... any... we called it “Shop”. They didn’t work in any shop or camp, and they were hiding. She took us to see their bunker. They stored water, food, “you could stay here with us, you don’t have to go to work”
Interviewer: Where was that bunker?
Ada: You mean the location? the street?
Interviewer: How was it?
Ada: oh, it was well-organized. It was in the... in the room, there were some floors you could move. Underneath those was a wooden board, and a ladder you could get down with. They had this pipe where air could come in. The bunker was for a few families. I mean, there was one engineer who planned it, he was a distant cousin, and they were sure this bunker would get them through the war. [...]”
.התיא ראשינ ונחנאש השקיב ךכ לכ איהו ,]הדוד[ הלצא ונחראתה ]...[״
הז תא םיארוק …םוש …םושב ודבע אל םה יכ ,וניצר אל ונחנא לבא
ונתיא הדרי איה -םירתתסמ ויהו ,הנחמ םוש ,פוש םושב .״םיפוש״
המש ונסחא ,םימ המש ונסחא םהו .םהל שי רקנוב הזיא ונל תוארהל
תאצל תובייח אל םתא רקנובה ךותב ונתיא ראשיהל ולכות״ ,לכוא ״דובעל
?הזה רקנובה היה הפיא :תנייארמ
?תובוחר הזיא ?םקוממ םוקמ הזיאב :הדע
?רדוסמ היה אוה ךיא :תנייארמ
ויה ,רדחה ךותב ...ה ךותב היה אוה .רדוסמ היה אוה ךיא ,הא :הדע םלוסו ,שרק היה תוטלבל תחתמ .ןתוא זיזהל היה רשפאש תוטלב ריוואו אצוי היהש רוניצ והשזיא המש היהו .המש תדרל היה רשפאו דחא המש היה תרמוא תאז ,תוחפשמ המכל היה הז .רוניצב סנכנ היה ךותבש םיחוטב ויהו ,קחורמ דוד ןב היהש ,הז תא ןנכת אוהש סדנהמ ״]...[ .המחלמה תא רובעל ולכוי םה הזה רקנובה
*shop
Többens and Schultz was a Nazi German textile manufacturing conglomerate making German uniforms, socks and garments in the Warsaw Ghetto
פוש* ויה ץלושו סנבט הוורפ ילעפמ תולעבב ליטסקטו
וטגב ולעפש תינמרג רוציי תבוטל ,השרו
אבצה רובע םירצומ .ינמרגה
“[...] And so we ran away towards my husband, Yehuda, parents’ apartment. We ran together quickly to some bunker they know there was upstairs on the top floor, in a small empty room. They made a hole in the wall, and through that hole, you could enter to a part of the house that was connected between the roof and the wall of this room. The entrance was through a pantry cabinet, you got in, closed the pantry cabinet’s door, closed the back door of the cabinet, closed the door in the wall - and that’s where we sat quietly.
But in that place where we sat on the roof was an opening, like a little window - and from that window we could see what’s going on on top of the other roofs. We saw on the other roofs guys running with weapons, shooting, this was the first moment of Jewish shooting [January 43’ uprising] I’ll tell you about one moment, one point when we were sitting cuddling, we heard German’s steps. There were little kids amongst us. And I was sitting close to my mom, and she told me this sentence - “you will stay alive, you were born on the 18th, and 18 means life”*. I remember that sentence and this moment.
When the day was done we used to get out of this bunker, and we stayed in my husbands’ parents apartment. So we stayed there with more than nine people. [...] We stayed there nine adults and one little girl in one little room, that’s what we had. My husband and I didn’t live just the two of us together again. [...]”
The Jewish culture uses Gematria - giving a numeric value to letters.
18 equals to the word “Hai”, meaning “life”
םירוה לש הריד ןוויכל ונחרב ונחנא זא ]...[״
ונתיא וצר םה רהמ רהמ םשו ,הדוהי ,ילעב לש המוקל ,הלעמל ונשיש ועדיש רקנוב והשזיאל ושע .םישנאמ רבכ קיר ןטק רדחב ,הנוילע
התייה הזה ריקב רוחה ךרד הסינכו ריקב רוח .הזה רדחה לש ריקה ןיבו גג ןיב רבוחש קלחל ורגס ,וסנכנש ןונזמ ךרד התייה הסינכהו ,ןונזמ לש הרוחא לש תלד ורגס ,ןונזמה תא
ונבשי םשו ,חתפה ,הזה ריקה לש תלד ורגס
היה ,גגב ומכ ונבשיש הזה םוקמב לבא .טקשב המ וניאר ונחנא הזה ןולחמו -ןטק ןולח ,חתפ לעש רבכ וניארו .םירחא תוגגה לע שחרתמש ,םירוי רבכ ,קשנ םע םירוחב םיצר םירחא תוגג לש תונושארה תויריה תויהל ליחתה הז רבכ הדוקנ ,דחא טנמומ קר רפסא ינא .םידוהי ונייה ,םילברוכמ ונבשיש םש הבישיב תחא םידלי םג ויה ,םינמרג לש םידעצ םיעמוש איהו ילש אמאל בורק יתבשיו .וניניב םינטק
יראשית תא״ -הזה טפשמה תא יל הרמא תרכוז ינאו .״יח הז 18-ו 18ב תדלונ תא ,םייחב .הזה עגרה תאו טפשמה תא
הזה רקנובהמ םידרוי ונייה ונחנא םוי רמגנ םא ונראשנ זא .ילעב לש החפשמב רבכ ונראשנו ברע ותואב ונדרי ונחנא ]...[ .םישנא 9-מ רתוי הנטק הדליו
They made a hole in the wall, and through that hole, you could enter to a part of the house that was connected between the roof and the wall of this room. The entrance was through a pantry cabinet, you got in, closed the pantry cabinet’s door, closed the back door of the cabinet, closed the door in the wall - and that’s where we sat quietly.
“[...] Instead of a “Seder”, we all went down to the bunker. It was already built, with supply, we had... Umm… bunk beds, there was food inside and a way in and out. At that time, people were still working. And we entered the bunker that Yehuda’s parents made. It was at night because it happened on the Seder evening. And we spent the night there.
Renata: We didn’t make it, the Seder stayed in the apartments
Interviewer: I see. But why? What happened?
Renata: Because we were already informed we have to hide. If someone has a calendar from that time, you can see it was April 19, I think it was April 19, the Seder. Even today on April 19th there’s some memorial day [...]. I only know that today, the Passover evening, the Seder, is a nightmare for me. So back then, instead of Passover evening, instead of a Seder, we were in the bunker. We slept in the bunker that night and didn’t go back to our apartments. The next day, someone knocked on the door - we didn’t hear anything in the bunker, it was sealed and very hard to get to - but someone knocked anyway, there was always someone who knew where’s the entrance and the exit between people who were in a close relationship. He said we can leave the bunker, the Germans entered the ghetto and the Jews fought and scared them away by shooting, so we can go out back to work. Then Yehuda got out of the bunker, and saw everything that was going on, he could see that there are Germans in the ghetto and some groups are getting ready to work. He told me to come out of the bunker. I brought my mother my bag of jewellery. And the moment I left the bunker and the house where the bunker was, the Germans were already back in the ghetto. It took about half an hour or an hour from the moment they told us we can go back to work. A lot of people were outside at that time, including Yehuda and myself. [...]”
,יונב בוט היה רבכש רקנובל דחא לכ ונלוכ ונדרי ,רדס ליל םוקמבו ]..[ ״ ,םישגרד ..מממא ..תוצירפ םש ויה רבכש ,הקפסא םש התיה רבכש וזה הפוקתה ךשמב ,האיצי ךרדו הסינכ ךרד היהו םינפב לכוא רבכ היה
הז .הדוהי לש םירוה וניכהש הזכ רקנובל ונדרי ונחנאו .ודבע םידוהי
םש ונרבע .ונדרי רבכ ,רדס ליל ברעב תויהל ךירצ היה הז יכ הלילב היה .הלילה תא
רדס ליל וניכה אל תרמוא תאז :תנייארמ
תורידב הראשנ רדס ליל ,ונקפסה אל :הטנר
?הרק המ ?המל ,הניבמ ינא :תנייארמ
םא .רתתסהל םיכירצ ונחנאש ונל ועידוה רבכ יכ ונדרי יכ :הטנר
19-ה תבשוח ינא היה הז לירפאב 19 זא ,וזה הפוקתמ חול ול שי והשימ
וא ןורכיז םוי הזיא שי לירפאב 19-ב םויה םג .רדס ליל היה ,לירפאב
םוקמב זא .טויס יליבשב הז חספ ליל םויהש תעדוי ינא ]...[ .הזכ והשמ אל ,רקנובב ונשי הליל ותוא .רקנובב רבכ ונבשי ,רדס ליל ,חספ ליל רבד םוש ונעמש אל ונחנא - קפד והשימ רקובב תרחמל .תורידל ונרזח והשימ קפד -וילא עיגהל דואמ השק היה םוטא דואמ היה רקנוב ,רקנובב ןיב - האיציה הז הסינכ הז ןאכ הז עדיש והשימ היה דימת ,תאז לכב םינמרגהו וסנכנ םינמרגש רקנובמ תאצל רשפאש םיבורק יכה םישנא תכלל םילוכי ונחנאו םתוא וחירבה םדגנ ברקה םע תויריה םע םידוהי ,הרוקש המ האר ,רקנובהמ הדוהי אצי זא .הדובעל םינגראתמ ,הדובעל תאצל יל רמא ,תונגראתמש תוצובק שישו םינמרג ןיא תמאבש האר התוא יתתנו םיטישכתה םע תיקשה תא יתדרוה דוע ינאו רקנובהמ םש הלאכ םיאנתב יתיצר אל ,תרזוח ינאש יתבשח ינא לבא .אמאל הזה תיבהמ אלא רקנובהמ אל ,יתאצי ינאש ךיאו .םיטישכתה םע תכלל עגרמ ,העש וא העש יצח חקל הז .וטגב םינמרג ויה רבכ ,רקנוב היהש ינא םג
Interviewer: How many people - I know it’s difficult to put exact numbers on - but do you think on underground, in bunkers, in hiding, at the beginning of the uprising?
Eddie: Thousands of people. In bunkers. Each building had a bunker or two. Took a lot of work to put a bunker. Dig a cellar under the cellar. It wasn’t in the cellarbecause anybody can go down to cellar. But they dig the cellar under the cellar.
I used Chat GPT to write a prompt from Eddie Bachner's testimony's first paragraph, to use in Stable Diffusion.
Prompt: "Create a realistic illustration that shows a group of people outside in the (dark)1:1, their hands digging desperately into the ground to create a secret small pit. The dirt unearthed must be carefully concealed to avoid detection, so illustrate the people discreetly carrying it away, hiding it in their pockets and other makeshift containers. The image should convey the intense fear and determination of the people, in Warsaw in 1943."
“[...] What happened is like this - a lot of people didn’t had no bunkers to go to. So my job was to get them into bunkers. I knew where they are, where they were. But the problem was, if I got to a bunker, they wouldn’t let them in. Haven’t got much space, can’t get them in, all kinds of… Sometimes you had to… to put out a gun. And say “If you don’t let them in I’ll shoot you”. So they let the other ones in, because the idea of letting them guys surrounding around to find them a place for us, after Germans will catch him, the first thing they’ll do is beat him up “show us where the bunkers are”, and they will… If he talks, then hundreds of people will be killed. That was the idea that the guy can not run around. [...]
Interviewer: How was it possible to get food, during this time? After the uprising began?
Eddie: They prepare food in the bunkers. They had bread, dried out so it could stay longer [...] and next to it, we thought the whole thing is gonna take another month, two, three.
Interviewer: How many people - I know it’s difficult to put exact numbers on - but do you think on underground, in bunkers, in hiding, at the beginning of the uprising?
Eddie: Thousands of people. In bunkers. Each building had a bunker or two. Took a lot of work to put a bunker. Dig a cellar under the cellar. It wasn’t in the cellar - because anybody can go down to cellar. But they dig the cellar under the cellar.
Interviewer: Where did you find equipment to do the digging work?
Eddie: The dig with our hands, whatever you name it. Not only that, the dirt, what you digged out, you couldn’t leave there because the Germand would see. So, little by little we used to take it away with us, and dump it somewhere. Everybody a little bit, in their pockets or whatever. That was like, unbelievable, unbelievable, the entrance to the bunkers and the exits, in case you got to run.”
Interviewer: Where did you find equipment to do the digging work?
Eddie: The dig with our hands, whatever you name it. Not only that, the dirt, what you digged out, you couldn’t leave there because the Germand would see. So, little by little we used to take it away with us, and dump it somewhere. Everybody a little bit, in their pockets or whatever. That was like, unbelievable, unbelievable, the entrance to the bunkers and the exits, in case you got to run.
“[...] But lucky, where we lived in Mila 3, underground was like a big cellar. And with us, apart from the workers from the firm, there were living a few which we called “the wild ones”, they didn’t belong to any group. But they were happy, and we were happy from them because they guarded and didn’t let anybody unwanted in, and they started - I don’t know how the connection with the engineer - an underground was built, bunks for 75 people, a kitchen to cook where the smoke goes out somewhere else - because the smoke gives the (?) that somebody’s living there, and a well. Because they were burning the houses. And if you had a well, you don’t choke you’ve got oxygen.
Interviewer: Do you remember this being dug out?
Sima: I didn’t see anything. Because that was down when we were at work, and then those people who were, the wild didn’t belong anywhere, they were the helpers, the do-ers, and the watchman, they watched that nobody unwanted coming, no one could come in through the gate. [...]”
“[...] After a few weeks, we went into that bunker, the first night from Pesach 43’. And I remember we… everybody had a package of Matzos. And we crawled on all our four to get in, because it was under the stairs we could get in, but on the yard, in the middle, was a manhole with a ladder goes down, but that was always with dirt on top so it doesn’t look anything, that something is there. So when we went it the last one usually checked. And we were there quite a few days, a week, not very long. And they caught us. When they pulled us out from that manhole with the ladder, and that big fat German said “Raus! Out!” - we noticed our house doesn’t exist anymore. We didn’t even know.”
And we crawled on all our four to get in, because it was under the stairs we could get in, but on the yard, in the middle, was a manhole with a ladder goes down, but that was always with dirt on top so it doesn’t look anything, that something is there. So when we went it the last one usually checked. And we were there quite a few days, a week, not very long. And they caught us.
When they pulled us out from that manhole with the ladder, and that big fat German said “Raus! Out!” - we noticed our house doesn’t exist anymore. We didn’t even know.
Terezah: “[...] I told myself ‘I would not leave my mom alone. Whatever happens to her, will happen to me’. So we went into this bunker in Zamanhof 38.
Interviewer: Could you describe that bunker, what was it like?
Terezah: That bunker, it was 3 courtyards building, Zamanhoff 38 to Nevelki 33 or 35 I don’t remember. It was this building of 3 courtyards. And they built the bunker in the courtyard’s garden. They built it in the garden, even before anything had happened, but they knew something will happen - they started to build inside that garden.
Interviewer: To dig
Terezah: Yes, to dig that bunker. They even had water, they managed to reach from the ground to the water, and they build a place that could take out the water, yes, a well. I’m missing a lot [of words] in Hebrew. And they had a generator for electricity. And they had those beds, 3-floor bunk beds. We couldn’t cook there. And you had to leave the bunker for some fresh air, because seventy-something people can’t sit together without some…
Interviewer: How did the fresh air get into the bunker? Was it underground?
Terezah: Very hard, it was underground and on top of the bunker they did this iron closing [hand gestures], and on that closing, they placed grass, so when you close the iron it looks like the garden.
Interviewer: And what was the air like?
Terezah: It was very hard to breathe there. A bit of air would have got in but at night you had to open up that gate and get outside for a bit. And in the evenings we weren’t so scared, because it was quiet and the buildings were burning. They burned the buildings and destroyed them. So you couldn’t cook inside the bunker. So what did we do? We had lots of dry food. But at night, two women would go outside and we had this really big pot [hand gestures], water heater, even larger than a water heater. We took it and some planks, and first, in the bunker we prepared what we want to cook - what we had - just some potatoes and groats and that’s about it. And we got up to a building which was already ruined, still burning, that’s where we would make the fire and cook this water heater with the food, then bring it back down to the bunker.
Interviewer: How did you walk in and out of the bunker? Did you have a staircase?
Terezah: Yes, we had this ladder, they made it all the way to the opening.
Interviewer: Was the ladder craved or a real one?
Terezah: No, it was made of wood
Interviewer: Now, did you have toilets there? Any type of sanitation?
Terezah: No. We had a designated place where you could do it, and when we went out to cook the man would take it out to empty it and then bring it back inside again.
Interviewer: And how was it with the air inside? Did it have any effect on it?
Terezah: Inside the bunker? It wasn’t pleasant.
Interviewer: What was the size of that bunker? Pretty much, if you can describe it, Like this living room? Bigger than this living room?
Terezah: It was bigger than this living room, bigger. Like the distance from the balcony to the end of the kitchen, and wider. You could stand up straight in there.
Interviewer: You mentioned you had electricity operated with a generator, how did they get the fuel or benzene to operate that?
Terezah: They prepared it all in advance, they prepared it all.”
?יתימא םלוסש וא בוצח םלוס :ןייארמ
.הז תא ושע ץעמ הז ,אל :הזרת
?והשמ ,היצטניס ?םש ויה םיתוריש ,וישכע :ןייארמ
לכש דחוימ הזכ םוקמ היה .אל ןכ םג :הזרת
תא םג ונאצישכו ,תושעל םש לוכי היה דחא
הצוחה הז תא ואיצוה םירבגה זא לשבל לכואה
.הז תא ואיבה םעפ בושו וקרזו
הז ?םינפבמ ריווא לש הניחבמ היה ךיאו :ןייארמ ?עיפשה
.םיענ היה אל הז ?םינפבמ :הזרת
וא תוחפ ?הזה רקנובה לש לדוגה היה המ :ןייארמ
לודג רתוי ?הזה ןולסה ומכ ,ראתל הלוכי תא םא רתוי ?הזה ןולסהמ
ומכ .רתוי ,הזה ןולסהמ לודג רתוי :הזרת
.בחר רתויו חבטמה ףוס דע תספרמהמש
.דומעל היה רשפא
הפיאמ ,רוטרנג םע למשח היהש תרמוא תא :ןייארמ ?רוטרנגל קלד וא ןינזב וחקל
".לכה וניכה םה .םש וניכה לכה םה :הזרת
תא ריאשא אל ינא׳ יתרמא יבילב ]...[״ :הזרת
זא .׳יתיא היהי ,התיא היהי המ .דבל אמא
המשו .)?(םיקאייש לש םש רקנובל דחי וסנכנ .38 ףוהנמז בוחרב ,ונייה
?היה הז ךיא ,רקנובה תא יראתת ילוא :ןייארמ
שולש לש ןיינב היה הז ,הזה רקנובה :הזרת
אל 35 וא 33 יקבלנל אצי 38 ףוהנמז תורצח
םהו .תורצח שולש ,ןיינב הזכ היה הז .תרכוז
ונב םהו .רצחב הניג הזכ היה רקנובה תא ונב
לבא ,הרוק היהש המ ינפל דוע ,הניגה ךותב
ךותב תונבל וליחתה - הרקי והשמש ועדי
םינפב וזה הניגה רופחל :ןייארמ
,םימ וליפא ושעו .רקנובה תא רופחל ,ןכ :הזרת
הזכ םג ונבו ,םימה דע המדאמ םש ועיגה םה
רסח .ראב ,ןכ ,םימ איצוהל לוכי היהש םוקמ
למשח ושע םהו .תירבעב )םילימ( הברה יל
שולש לע הלאכ תוטימ ושעו .למשח לע רוטרנג
היהו .םש היה רשפא יא לשבל .תומוק הלאכ
יכ ,ררוואתהל תצק הזה רקנובהמ תאצל ךירצ …תצק ילב תבשל לוכי אל שיא המכו 70 םג הז ?רקנובל סנכנ ריווא תמאב ךיא :ןייארמ ?המדאל תחתמ
הזכ ושעו המדאל תחתמ הז ,דואמ השק :הזרת תועונת[ לזרב לש הריגס התייה הזה רקנובה לע םירגוסשכש אשד ושע םה הריגס לעו ,]םיידי .הניגה ומכ אצוי הז זא לזרבה תא ?ריוואה היה ךיאו :ןייארמ
סנכנ היה .םושנל םש היה דואמ השק :הזרת תא חותפל ךירצ היה ברעב לבא ריוא תצק
לכ ונדחפ אל ברעבו .תצק תאצלו הזה רעשה םה .םיפורש ויה םיניינבהו טקש היה יכ ,ךכ
לשבלש הככ ,םיניינב וסרה םה ,םיניינב ופרש
ונל היה ?ונישע המ זא .רשפא יא רקנובה ךותב ינש רותב ונאצי הלילב לבא .שבי לכוא הברה דואמ לודג ריס הזכ ונל היהו ,הצוחה םישנ ונחקל ,דודמ רתוי וליפא ,דוד ,]םיידי תועונת[ ךותב םש לכ םדוקו םישרק ונחקלו דודה תא ,לשבל םיצורש המ לכואה תא ונכה רקנובה והזו םיסירגו המדא יחופת- היה לכוא המ ,סורה היה אוהש ןיינב לע הלעמל ונילעו .הז ונייה םשו ,ונממ אצוי הככ היה שא דועשו םע הזה דודה תא םילשבמו שאה תא םישוע .הטמל ותוא םידירומו לכואה
?רקנובהמ םיאצויו םילוע ויה ךיא :ןייארמ ?תוגרדמ ויה
דע ותוא ושע ,םלוס הזכ היה ,ןכ :הזרת תאזה הפאלקה
Dall E, Prompt: "An illustration of a few men digging a small secret deep pit at night, in the middle of a shared empty yard between 3 buildings in Warsaw ghetto 1943"
Interviewer: “How did you get in the bunker? Did you take something from your house?
Terezah: Each one took a blanket and a pillow
Interviewer: Was it just you and your mother?
Terezah: Yes. Just us. The food there was whatever they have made. Not just them, everyone in there, whoever participated in that bunker also gave some money for the food. They had baked flour, they had… everything was ready in advance, dry food. And we used the potatoes at night when we cooked the soup.
Interviewer: Were there young men in the bunker? Or middle-aged men? 20 years old, 30 years old, 40 years old?
Terezah: Yes, there were many.
Interviewer: How many people in total were in that bunker?
Terezah: 70-something
Interviewer: Did any of them carry a gun?
Terezah: Yes, some did. Some men had guns.
Interviewer: Did they think about using it?
Terezah: They did, but they couldn’t.”
והשמ םתחקל ?רקנובל םתסנכנ ךיא :ןייארמ״ ?תיבהמ
תירכו ,הכימש חקל ונתיאמ דחא לכ :הזרת
?דבל אמאו תא :ןייארמ
,וניכה םהש המ היה םש לכוא .והז .ןכ :הזרת
ימ ,םש םלוכ ,םה קר אל .הלאה )?( םיקאיישה
ליבשב ףסכ ןתנ םג אוה זא רקנובב ףתתשהש
…ושע ,תויופא תוירטא םש ושע .איבהל לכואה
ויה המדא יחופתו .שבי לכוא ,ןכומ היה לכה .קרמה תא לשבלו תאצל הליל ליבשב
,20 ,הדימעה ליגב ,םיריעצ םירבג המש ויה :ןייארמ ?הלאכ םירבד ויה ,40 30
.ויה הברה .ויה ,ןכ :הזרת
םש םתייה לכה ךסב םישנא המכ :ןייארמ ?רקנוב ותואב
.שיא המכו 70 :הזרת ?והשימ םע
Interviewer: For how long were you sitting there [in the bunker]?
Terezah: For about three weeks
Interviewer: And your life routine was as you described earlier? Going outside at night, sitting inside all day long? Were you sweaty? Was it hot?
Terezah: Very hot, yes, and you couldn’t talk and no one must hear you because someone might be… not once we heard someone walking, looking for our bunker. Because they knew lots of Jews are hiding in bunkers. And Jews who knew where it was, were telling them about it. They used to go… a Jewish man was telling on our bunker, too. We knew it, we saw him, he was a Jewish cop.
[...] Interviewer: Now, was there light during the day? Did you use electricity?
Terezah: Yes, we had electricity, yes. There was light all the time, but not a bright one, a dim light.
Interviewer: Did any natural light manage to get it?
Terezah: No, not at all. Natural light… we were underground. Buried there.
Interviewer: Did you have fresh water? Or did you only drink from the well?
Terezah: Only from the well
Interviewer: And what did you use the water for?
Terezah: Drinking, cooking and drinking. We also bathed with it, but each one had a very small ration. You need to understand there were more than seventy people there, so each had a very small ration of water. We washed our hands and our face. The body I don’t remember, I really don’t.
Interviewer: Now, may you describe how was it like in there - if you hadany space to move around?
Terezah: It was very hard, but you could move. It was built in a way that the beds were on two sides, and in the
middle, there was this… isle.
Interviewer: Was there any furniture? Chairs?
Terezah: Nothing, no furniture.
Interviewer: a table?
Terezah: table…
Interviewer: Pens, to write? Paper? Did someone was sitting and writing there?
Terezah: Yes, we had that. Some people were there, one of them was a doctor. The doctor who take care of Mordechai Anilewitz when he was wounded, so he left the bunker to the bunker where he died.
Interviewer: Now, may you describe how was it like in there - if you had - any space to move around?
Terezah: It was very hard, but you could move. It was built in a way that the beds were on two sides, and in the middle, there was this… isle.Terezah Horniker
רקינרוה הזרת
- המש היה ךיא ראתל הלוכי תא ,וישכע :ןייארמ
?םוקמ ךל היה ?רקנובב זוזל תלוכי - המש היה םא .רשפא לבא ,דואמ השק :הזרת
םידדצ ינשמ הככ יונב היה הז
.רבעמ …הזכ היה עצמאבו ,תוטימה
?)רקנובב םתבשי( ןמז המכ ךרעב :ןייארמ
ךרעב תועובש שולש :הזרת
םיבשוי םויב ,הצוחה הלילב םיאצוי ,םדוק תראיתש ומכ ולהנתה םייחהו :ןייארמ ?םח ?םיעיזמ ?םויה לכ
אל ונעמש …והשימ ילוא יכ ועמשיש רוסאו רבדל רוסאו ,ןכ ,םח :הזרת
םידוהי הברה שיש ועדי םה יכ .רקנובה תא ושפיח ,ךלוה והשימש םעפ
ויה םה .רקנובה הפיא םיעדוי ויהש ,םידוהי ,םירסומ ויהו .םירקנובב ,ונעדי ונחנא .הזה רקנובה לע ןישלה ידוהי םג ונלש רקנובהו ,םיכלוה .ידוהי רטוש היה הז ,ותוא וניאר
?למשחב םתשמתשה ?רוא היה םויה ךשמב ,וישכע :ןייארמ ]...[
רוא ,לודג אל לבא ,רוא היה ןמזה לכ .ןכ ,למשח ונל היה ,ןכ :הזרת .עונצ הזכ
?המינפ סנכנ יעבט רוא :ןייארמ
רובק התא .המדאל תחתמ …םש יעבט רוא הפיא .אל ללכב ,אל :הזרת .םש
?ראבהמ קר וא ?היה םימרוז םימ :ןייארמ ראבהמ קר :הזרת
?המל הזב םתשמתשהו :ןייארמ
דואמ טעמ לבא ,הז םע םג ונצחרתה .הייתשלו לושיבל ,הייתשל :הזרת םימ תצק דחא לכ זא שיא 70-מ רתוי היה םשש ןיבת .דחא לכ ונחקל
.תרכוז אלש תמאב ,תרכוז אל ינא ףוגה .םיידי ,םינפ ונצחר .ךירצ היה
זוזל תלוכי - המש היה םא - המש היה ךיא ראתל הלוכי תא ,וישכע :ןייארמ ?םוקמ ךל היה ?רקנובב
,תוטימה םידדצ ינשמ הככ יונב היה הז .רשפא לבא ,דואמ השק :הזרת .רבעמ …הזכ היה עצמאבו
?תואסכ ויה ?םיטיהר דוע ויה :ןייארמ
םיטיהר םוש ,רבד םוש :הזרת ?ןחלוש :ןייארמ …ןחלוש :הזרת
?והשמ םש בתכו בשי והשימ ?ריינ ?בותכל ,םיטע :ןייארמ
םגש אפור .דחא אפור םש היה ,םישנא המכ םש היה ,היה ןכ הז :הזרת םג רקנובהמ אצי אוה זא עוצפ היה אוהשכ ׳ץיבלינא יכרדמב לפיט
.רטפנ אוה הפיא ינש רקנובל
Interviewer: Did you have a radio in there?
Terezah: We had a radio, yes
Interviewer: What were you hearing on the radio?
Terezah: We heard, yes, we heard about the uprising, about the tanks
Interviewer: Who was airing? What radio station did you listen to?
Terezah: a Polish one. There were some Poles cooperating with the Jewish uprising. They got their weapons from them, that’s also how they got a safe place to stay on the Aryan Christian side, they were helping them. But later on, they had no weapon, they had nothing. They used to go to the Aryan side to get weapons using the pits and tunnels from the ghetto. And those were the canals, if you excuse my language, the city’s sewer. It was very, very difficult.
Interviewer: Did you have clothes there? To change if needed?
Terezah: I don’t remember… Whatever we had on us, that’s what we had.
Interviewer: Did you have a mirror there?
Terezah: I never looked in the mirror… I didn’t even think of it, what someone looks like.
Interviewer: And what do other people look like to you?
Terezah: Everyone looked sad. No one knew what was waiting for us in the next minute. Not the next hour, the next minute.”
Stable Diffusion, Prompt: "A few men digging a secret deep pit at night, in the middle of a shared empty yard between 3 buildings in the Warsaw ghetto 1943"
?המש היה וידר :ןייארמ"
ןכ ,היה וידר :הזרת
?וידרב םתעמש המ :ןייארמ
םיקנט המכ ולפנש ונעמש ,דרמ םש שיש ונעמש ,ןכ ,ונעמש :הזרת
?התייה וז הנחת וזיא ,רדיש ימ :ןייארמ
םה םתיאמ יכ .השרו וטג דרמ םע ודבעש םינלופ ויה ,תינלופ :הזרת ,םירצונה לש יראה דצמ תויהל םוקמ םג ולביק םה םתיאמ ,קשנ ולביק םהל היה אל קשנ רבכ םהל היה אל ךכ רחא לבא .םהל םירזוע ויה םה
ושעש תורובה ךרד םג קשנ לבקל ידכ יראה דצל םיאצוי ויה םה .םולכ .םיבויבה לכ לש ,יל חלסת ,םילאנקה ןיב תורוב ויה הזו .הצוחה וטגהמ .ךבוסמ דואמ דואמ היה הז
?םש םידגב םתפלחה ?םכל ויה םידגב :ןייארמ
.היה הז ,ונל היהש המ הז …תרכוז אל ינא :הזרת ?םש היה יאר :ןייארמ
,וליפא הזל שאר היה אל …דימת יארב יתלכתסה אל :הזרת .הארנ והשימ ךיא ?ךל וארנ םירחא םישנא ךיאו :ןייארמ
דוע אל .הקד דוע ונל הכחמ המ ועדי אל םלוכ .םיבוצע ויה םלוכ :הזרת ".הקד דוע ,העש
דוע ונל הכחמ המ ועדי אל םלוכ .םיבוצע ויה םלוכ
.הקד דוע ,העש דוע אל .הקד
Everyone looked sad. No one knew what was waiting for us in the next minute. Not the next hour, the next minute.
Dall E, Prompt: "An illustration of how the Warsaw ghetto area would look like if it wasn’t destroyed in WW2"
“[...] I was with my brother, he was working in the shop with me together. And then, when they closed up the shop, we start the bunker. We went into the bunkers, into the underground. We start to organize, we should have food. our group, in my bunker we had food for one year. We were thinking that the war will take maybe one year, no more. So we had enough food. But still, we had to go out into shop for hand grenades, for shrapnels (?) we call it, for food. We used to pull numbers, and every night somebody else had to go out, whatever the number was, to take a chance. It was in the dark and we had connections with the Polaks, we had connection with soldiers, which they deliver hand grenades to us, we had to pay them a high price for it, but the money wasn’t worth a thing so we spent the money wherever we had anyway, you know. [...]
Interviewer: How long were you in the bunkers? How long did you stay in the bunkers?
Jack: In the bunkers? Oh, until the end, since we build it. Till the end. But what happened, when they found us, when they came to my bunker, the Germans, and they find us, we… I was sure that those builders, those Polish builders what they build this bunker, that they told the Germans where we are. This was a bunker, I tell you, like you see on the sidewalk, you walk and you don’t see a thing. And there was the entrance to our bunker, was never - impossible - to know what entrance was to the bunker. But they find it, so I was sure that the same builders told the Germans where we are. And that’s what happened with the other ones. The same thing.”
This was a bunker, I tell you, like you see on the sidewalk, you walk and you don’t see a thing. And there was the entrance to our bunker, was neverimpossible - to know what entrance was to the bunker. But they find it, so I was sure that the same builders told the Germans where we are. And that’s what happened with the other ones. The same thing.
“[...] Long before any of us understand what was going on, we had another hiding we prepared in advance. The hiding was in the apartment where I lived back then. We sealed one room by building a wall. Against that wall was an oven, a baking oven. Through the opening of that oven, we could get into the hidden room. Behind that oven was a sort of tin, that we were threading and closing so no one will notice us.
Interviewer: Who’s “we”?
Li’on: Myself and another group, number of men, people. We heard the shooting and we had this crack where we could look outside to see what was happening - we saw the German soldiers, and the fire shooting from both sides. We decided we ain’t going to be burned alive in this place. We got out of there. Whoever had the means, any means, to stand against the Germans or harm them in any way, everyone was trying. [...]”
דועבמ ונכהש רחא אובחמ ונל היה ,הרוק המ ונבהש ינפל דוע ]...[״
ידי לע דחא רדח ונמטא .יתרג הב הרידה ךותב היהש אובחמ .דעומ
לש חתפה דעבמו .הייפא רונת ,רונת דמע הזה ריקה ינפלש ריק תיינב ןיעמ היה רונתה ירוחאמו ,אוהה רדחל רודחל היה רשפא הייפאה רונת
.הארינ אלש ידכ םירגוסו םיליחשמ רוחאמ ונייהש הזכ חפ
?ונייה הז ימ :תנייארמ
תויריה ונעמש רשאכ .םישנא ,םירוחב רפסמ ,הצובק דועו ינא :ןואיל
וניאר - ץוחב השענ המ תוארלו ץיצהל ליבשב הזכ ץירח םש ונל היהו
ונטלחה .םינוויכה ינשב םירויש שאה תא וניאר ,םינמרגה םילייחה תא
ודיב היהש
Long before any of us understand what was going on, we had another hiding we prepared in advance. The hiding was in the apartment where I lived back then. We sealed one room by building a wall. Against that wall was an oven, a baking oven. Through the opening of that oven, we could get into the hidden room. Behind that oven was a sort of tin, that we were threading and closing so no one will notice us.
ידי
דעבמו .הייפא רונת ,רונת דמע רשפא הייפאה רונת לש חתפה
ירוחאמו ,אוהה רדחל רודחל היה
ונייהש הזכ חפ ןיעמ היה רונתה ידכ םירגוסו םיליחשמ רוחאמ .הארינ אלש
Stable Diffusion, Prompt:
"An old kitchen with brick walls in Warsaw ghetto, 1943, with a big cooking stove. The cooking stove opens up to a door"
Stable Diffusion, Prompt: "An old kitchen with brick walls in Warsaw ghetto, 1943, with a big cooking stove. A man squeezed inside the stove and moves to a hidden room behind wall"
Stable Diffusion, Prompt: "A few man hiding in a small room behind a brick wall in the kitchen of a 1943 apartment in Warsaw. Against the wall there’s an old (stove):1.1"
Stable Diffusion, Prompt: "A photograph of a kid hiding in a dark small room behind a brick wall leaning against a cooking stove in an old apartment in Warsaw, 1943"
4528162 Interview Code Hebrew Language
1999 Year New Haven, Conn., USA Location
Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
“[...] All along I just wanted to sleep, sleep as much as I can. And I thought that this night will be just the same as other nights, we will go [to the bunker] for a few hours and it will be gone within a few hours until we can go back to rest. And somehow, every new routine that happen, we got used to it. Until a new, worse routine came along, we missed the former one. But we went down to that bunker, and it was a cellar under a cellar. That’s how it was built. It was, we entered Miła Street no.3 but we actually were lying under the ruins of Nalipki 49. It was this corner, extraneous house. And this house was bombed at the beginning of the war and remained ruined. So from this basement in Mila 3, there was this maze with all kinds of curves, I honestly could never know how to get in there again. How they let us in there. Everyone was lying on the bunk beds, it was dense and frowsty but there was no fear. We thought ourselves safe in there. There were also these wall cabinets, with food supplies each brought for themselves, they brought food that can be stored and held for months. And there were all the cooking facilities, stoves, and they said there were weapons, and also a water pump in there. They built fans to bring fresh air in and dirty air out. It was elaborate. And there were so many people together, lots of young people. Mostly young people. Because the adults were already taken in all the Aktions. All those who left were the ones working in the Platzowka, real young people, strong, and so we had this hope inside. That’s how I felt, anyway, I was a kid back then. And there was electricity. It wasn’t like in an attic or a basement, that was something else. And we didn’t leave for three weeks. All those thoughts I had about the Aktion to be over in four or five hours and we can go out againno. This time we stayed. [...]”
But we went down to that bunker, and it was a cellar under a cellar. That’s how it was built. It was, we entered Miła Street no.3 but we actually were lying under the ruins of Nalewki 49. It was this corner, extraneous house. And this house was bombed at the beginning of the war and remained ruined. So from this basement in Mila 3, there was this maze with all kinds of curves, I honestly could never know how to get in there again. How they let us in there. Everyone was lying on the bunk beds, it was dense and frowsty but there was no fear. We thought ourselves safe in there. There were also these wall cabinets, with food supplies each brought for themselves, they brought food that can be stored and held for months. And there were all the cooking facilities, stoves, and they said there were weapons, and also a water pump in there. They built fans to bring fresh air in and dirty air out. It was elaborate.
3 הלימ בוחרב וסנכנ ,היה הז .הז
תיבהו .הזכ ינוציח ,רנרוקב ,הזכ תיב היה הז . 49 יקפלנ לש תיבה
הזה ףתרמהמ זא .סורה היה אוהו המחלמה תליחתב ץצפוה הזה
יתייה אל תמאבו ,םילותיפ ינימ לכ ,הזכ ךובמ הזיא היה 3 הלימבש
ובכש םלוכ .םשל ונתוא וליבוה ךיא .םשל סנכיהל היינש םעפ תעדוי
תא ונבשח .דחפ היה אל לבא קינחמו הזכ ףופצ היה ,םישגרד לע
םייונב הלאכ ריק תונורא םג ויה המש .הזה םוקמב םיחוטב ונמצע
ותוא רומשל רשפאש ןוזמ וניכה ,ואיבהש ןוזמ דחא לכלו
היהו ,ורמא קשנ היהו ,םייריכ הזיא לשבל והשמ היה םינקתמה לכ
ריווא סינכהל ידכ םיררוואמ ןכ םג ושעו .םינפב םימ תבאשמ וליפא
.ללכושמ היה הז .ערה ריוואה תא איצוהלו
יתבשחו ,ןושיל דוע יתיצר ךכ לכ ןמזה לכו ]...[״
תועש המכל דרנ ונחנא ,דימת ומכ היהי חטב
רוזחנ ונחנאו ,תועש המכ ךות ףולחי הזו
לכ ,והשכיא היהי בושו .חונל לכונ ונחנאו
אלש דעו וילא ונלגרתה והשכיא םייח רדס
ונעגעגתה רבכ זא ונממ עורג רתויו שדח אב
הזו הזה רקנובל ונדרי לבא .תוחפל הזכל ,וילא .הז תא ונב הככ .ףתרמל תחתמ ףתרמ היה
ונבכש םצעבו 3 הלימ בוחרב וסנכנ ,היה הז
היה הז . 49 יקפלנ לש תיבה תוסירהל תחתמ
הזה תיבהו .הזכ ינוציח ,רנרוקב ,הזכ תיב
זא .סורה היה אוהו המחלמה תליחתב ץצפוה
,הזכ ךובמ הזיא היה 3 הלימבש הזה ףתרמהמ
תעדוי יתייה אל תמאבו ,םילותיפ ינימ לכ
ונתוא וליבוה ךיא .םשל סנכיהל היינש םעפ
הזכ ףופצ היה ,םישגרד לע ובכש םלוכ .םשל
ונמצע תא ונבשח .דחפ היה אל לבא קינחמו
תונורא םג ויה המש .הזה םוקמב םיחוטב
,ואיבהש ןוזמ דחא לכלו םייונב הלאכ ריק לכ .םישדוח ותוא רומשל רשפאש ןוזמ וניכה היהו ,םייריכ הזיא לשבל והשמ היה םינקתמה .םינפב םימ תבאשמ וליפא היהו ,ורמא קשנ ריווא סינכהל ידכ םיררוואמ ןכ םג ושעו .ללכושמ היה הז .ערה ריוואה תא איצוהלו
.םיריעצ ןומה ,דחיב םישנא הברה ךכ לכ ויהו לכב וחקלנ רבכ םירגובמה יכ .םיריעצ בורל ודבעש הלא קר וראשנ .תומדוקה תויצקאה
היה הככו ,םיקזח ,םיריעצ שממ ,תוקבצולפב
יתשגרה הככ ינא .םינפב הווקת תאזכ ,והשמ
,הככ יל היהו .הדלי יתייה זא ינא ,ןפוא לכב
ךכ לכ םע תויהל ,ןוחטיב לש השגרה והשמ
היה אל הז .למשח היהו .דחיב םישנא הברה
רחא והשמ היה ,ףתרמב וא גג תיילעב ומכ זא השולש ךשמב המשמ ונאצי אל רבכו .ירמגל שמח עברא רובעכש יתבשחש הז לכ .תועובש .אל -בוש אצנ ונחנאו רובעת היצקאה תועש ״]...[ .ונראשנ םעפה
Because of them the bunker was filled with so many new people that you literally could not breathe in there. Every time more and more people joined us, it got to a point you couldn’t light a match in the bunker. We were lying naked, almost fully naked. And we waved our hands, and we used to soak our sheets in water. Then the water ran out, the fans didn’t work, because the electricity wires burned, and all the water tubes burst. They were burning the streets methodically. One by one. So from the well, we used to soak our towels and sheets and wave in them, it was hell. A short, narrow place and so many people on the bunk beds, naked with wet rags over their foreheads [...]
Stable Diffusion, Prompt: "Architectural drawings of a basement in Warsaw 1943 with a hole in the middle of the wooden floor leads to a (mazed):1.33 (tunnel):1.1 that leads to another house."
“[...] Because of them [a group of young people - see full testimony] the bunker was filled with so many new people that you literally could not breathe in there. Every time more and more people joined us, it got to a point you couldn’t light a match in the bunker. We were lying naked, almost fully naked. And we waved our hands, and we used to soak our sheets in water. Then the water ran out, the fans didn’t work, because the electricity wires burned, and all the water tubes burst. They were burning the streets methodically. One by one. So from the well, we used to soak our towels and sheets and wave in them, it was hell. A short, narrow place and so many people on the bunk beds, naked with wet rags over their foreheads, and this group of young people who kept messing around with each other and devoured and didn’t notice anyone else around who were already… It really got to that point. But that happened at the last minute when you couldn’t even light up a match and every other moment someone passed out. I have never seen anything like this, they were like flies. You were talking to a person and he was down. The other person was standing… and the next moment he was down too. And then, all of a sudden, the Germans started knocking, they didn’t know where’s the entrance and there were many, many obstacles on the way to our bunker. But they already revealed one of them and they started knocking. And I was on the edge of passing out, from this stench, the dense, and the heat. And my mom woke me up every time when they started knocking, and that’s when she said “They found us”. It was such a horrible phrase.”
]האלמ תודע האר -הריעצ הרובח[ םללגב ]...[״
םישנא הברה ךכ לכב ונלש רקנובה אלמתה
לכ .המש םושנל היה רשפא יא שממ רבכש
יא רבכש ךכל עיגה הזו דועו דוע ואב םעפ
ונחנא .רקנובב ,רורפג קילדהל היה רשפא
ויה ,ונפנפנו .םימורע טעמכ ,םימורע ונבכש
אל רבכ ,םימ היה אל רבכ .םינידס םיביטרמ
,למשחה יטוח ופרשנ יכ ,םיררוואמה ודבע
ופרש םה .םימ תורוניצה לכ וצצופתהו
ונייה זא .ינשה ירחא דחא .תויתטישב תובוחר םינידסו ,תובגמ םיביטרמ ונייה הזה ראבהמ ךומנו רצ םוקמ םונהג היה הז ,םיפנפנמו םימורע םישגרדה לע םישנא הברה ךכ לכו המש הלאו חצמה לע םיבוטר םיטוטרמס םע
דחי וקסעתה ןמזה לכש הלאה םיריעצה םע
םירחאה לע תעדל וצר אלו וללזו ינשה םע
הז לבא ,ךכל תמאב עיגה הז ...הככ רבכש
רשפא יאש רבכשכ ןורחא ןורחא בלשב היה
והשימ לפנ עגר לכו ,רתוי קילדהל רורפג היה
ומכ ,הזכ רבד דוע יתיאר אל .ףלעתהו רחא
,הז םע .בכש רבכ אוה ,תרביד הז םע .םיבובז
םואתפ זאו .בכש רבכ אוה ...םיילגרה לע דמע תא ועדי אל םה ,םינמרגה קופדל וליחתה םימוסחמ הברה םג ויה לבא ,ונילא הסינכה רבכ םהו .הברה ,עיגהל הלאכ םילושכמ ,ןכ םג .קפדיהל וליחתהו הארנה יפכ םהמ דחא וליג ןוחריסה לכמ ,תפלועמ טעמכ יתייה זאו םעפ לכ אמיאו .םוחהמ ,תופיפצה לכמ ,הזה זא ,קופדל וליחתה םהשכ זא ,יתוא הריעה לכ הלימ התייה וז ."ונתוא וליג" הרמא אמיא ״.הארונ ךכ
ונבכש ונחנא .רקנובב ,רורפג קילדהל היה
רבכ .םינידס םיביטרמ ויה ,ונפנפנו .םימורע טעמכ
ופרשנ יכ ,םיררוואמה ודבע אל רבכ ,םימ היה אל
םה .םימ תורוניצה לכ וצצופתהו ,למשחה יטוח
זא .ינשה ירחא דחא .תויתטישב תובוחר ופרש
םינידסו ,תובגמ םיביטרמ ונייה הזה ראבהמ ונייה
ךכ לכו ךומנו רצ םוקמ םונהג היה הז ,םיפנפנמו
םיטוטרמס םע םימורע םישגרדה לע םישנא הברה
]...[ חצמה לע םיבוטר
“[...] And I was daydreaming, too. I used to have a group of friends in Moronowska Street, this small group I went to school and played with. So I kept thinking - where could they be? Maybe they live in this camp and we will meet again after the war. And I was daydreaming about this, I was imagining how we meet together, what we all look like, what stories we tell each other. And after that when I was so weak, so exhausted, and sweaty all the time, I couldn’t even go to the toilets, for three weeks all I had was one sugar cube a day and a glass of water, so I stopped, I didn’t think about my friends anymore. And my mom didn’t bother me either, she was smiling at me occasionally, to give me courage, and to lift my spirit. That everything will be alright, that this will eventually end. But at the end, when I was almost passed out and indifferent when the Germans started knocking she became energetic and said “Get up, it’s time to get dressed. Don’t sleep now, they are coming in and we need to stay awake.” She believed that our vigilance will save us. If we’ll be fast enough, vigilance enough, doing everything at the right moment and at the right time, we will be saved. So she was very sustenance about it.
We keep having that hope, I guess every human being while alive has it - at least that’s how we were… So my mother kept waking me up to be on guard, to watch. And there was an opening in the ceiling, they thought in case we will be on the verge of suffocation they will open it, but they didn’t, they were scared. All of a sudden, out of all places, the Germans throw a grenade, through that opening. Because someone snitched. We learned that later he was pointing at that
opening. I don’t know if someone was harmed, but there was such turmoil… They laid a ladder and came down to our bunker with their green uniforms. And there was no way out of this. But they treated us rather kindly because they knew there are weapons, so they kindly calmed us down, “No harm will happen. Just obey our orders, you’re being transported to work, it will be alright”. First of all, a bit of fresh air got in, we were suffocating in there… and only those soaking-wet sheets gave us a feeling it was cooling down, even though it wasn’t.”
אל ,הארנה יפכ יח אוהשכ םדא לכ ,תאזה הווקתה התייה דוע ןמזה לכ הריעה ןמזה לכ איה הככו ,ונייה תוחפל ונחנא הככ לבא םדא דוע לכ ,הרקתב חתפ םג ונל היה ,םואתפו .רומשא ונאש ,חיגשא ינאש יתוא וחתפיי זא ,םש קנחיהל ךלנ שממ רבכ ונחנאש הרקמבש ובשח םה ,ןומיר וסינכה םינמרגה ,המש אקוודו .ודחפ ,הז תא וחתפ אלו .הז תא חתפה תא קוידב רמאו ונל עדונ ךכ רחא .ןישלה והשימ יכ .הזה חתפב םהו .תאזכ המוהמ התייה ,אל וא עגפנ והשימ םא תעדוי אל ינא .הזה .הלאה םיקוריה םידמה םע ונילא תדרל וליחתהו הטמל םלוס וסינכה קשנ שיש ועדי םה יכ ,תובידאב וסחייתה םה לבא .סונמ היה אל רבכו
קר .םכל הרקי אל ער רבד םוש ,ועיגרה תובידאב הככ םה זא ,םינפב סנכנ לכ םדוקו ,רדסב היהיו .הדובעל םיעסונ םתאו תודוקפל ותייצת
השוחת ןתנ דוע הז הלאה םיבוטרה םינידסה קרו ...ונקנחנ רבכ ...ריווא
".היה אל םצעב לבא ריווא שיו תצק ררקתמ וליאכש
,םירבח ,הקסבונארומ בוחרב םדוק יל היה ...תמלוח יתייה םגו ]...[״ הפיא -יתבשח זא ,םתיא יתקחישו ,םתיא יתדמלש הנטק תאזכ הצובק שגפינ ונחנאו הזכ הנחמ הזיאב םייח םה ילוא .תויהל םילוכי םה ונחנא ךיא ימצעל יתראית ינא ,הז לע יתמלח ינאו .רמגית המחלמהשכ
רבכשכ ךכ רחא םואתפו .ינשל דחא רפסנ המ ,הארנ ונחנא ךיא ,שגפינ יתלוכי אל רבכו ,ןמזה לכ העיזמ ,השושת ךכ לכ השלח ךכ לכ יתייה ,םימ סוכו רכוס תייבוק קר תועובש השולש ,שומיש תיבל תכלל וליפא הדירטה אל רבכ םג אמיאו .רתוי הז לע יתבשח אל ,יתקספה רבכ זא היהיש .יתוא דדועלו ,ץמוא יל תתל ,הככ יילא הכייח איה םשו הפ ,יתוא ,הזכ ןופליעב יתייה רבכשכ ,הרמא איה ףוסב לבא .רמגיי הזש ,בוט התייהנ איה זא קופדל וליחתה םינמרגהשכ זאו ,השידא יתייהנ רבכשכ ,ינשית לא וישכע .שבלתהל ךירצ וישכע ,ימוקת" .ךכ לכ תצרמנ בוש תוכזב ,ונחנאש הבשח איה "םירע תויהל םיכירצו וסנכיי םה וישכע ,םיריהמ קיפסמ היהנ םאש .ונלש הלצהה היולת הזב בוש ,תונרעה זא .לצנינ ונחנא זא ,םיאתמה עגרבו ןמזב רבד לכ השענ ,םיינרע קיפסמ .הז לע הדיפקה דואמ איה
Dall E, Prompt:
"An illustration of an overcrowded underground bunker in Warsaw in 1943. There is no air, the people are lying on wooden bunk beds, covering their bodies with soaked wet sheets"
4298500 Interview Code Hebrew Language
1994 Year Tel Aviv, Israel Location
Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
“Mordechai told my husband Izhar, come over and stand with your back to me - you should know we can’t die that way. It was with Mordechai Anielewicz in January 1943 or the end of 42’. We should die as heroes, either way only death awaits us. It happened to be said where I lived at that time, the same entrance as my husband’s parents’ house, Mila 69 I think in Warsaw. He decided we should build bunkers, that’s the only thing that might save the Jews. It was Raphael Kutcher with Mordechai Anielewicz. And my husband had all kinds of ideas, like how to open the bunker. It wasn’t a bunker it was actually underground. And how would you open it? We press, there was this button on the wall over a button on the wall, like a nail, and this square thing would open up, and there was a ladder, you go down the ladder, and then up in another ladder, and there was this hiding place. January 1943. We prepared all kinds of things, not just the electricity supply. It was very large, it was the foundation of the house, it was at Zamanhoff 56 along with Moronowska 40 I think, something like that. It was right underneath it. There was the Horenstein family, Mora and Mora Rozenblum, and Rosenberg the doctors of the community, and we were about 21 people in that bunker. We got down there really early in the morning. My husband and my brother-in-law said it will be better to be there, we could see it starting in the Aktion on January 18th. He decided we will take turns going out. [...] There were times the Poles told about Jews are in all kinds of bunkers, the Poles couldn’t stand it, so they gave it to the Germans, and one bright day we sitting there and then we see a grey smoke. They release gas through the sewers and it got to our bunker, through the tubes. We had water, we had everything. But what was the great disaster? Our entire warehouse was ruined, along with the entire building. But at the last minute, my husband said, ‘Look, Rapha [Raphael], we need to think maybe this warehouse will be ruined”, so next to it we built another small bunker, 4 meters of sand on polls, just in case. And we made these beds if god forbid we will need them. And eventually, in the beginning, there were bombes and fire and bombs, and the entire building collapsed over our warehouse with all the food, and in the last second we got into this small room, and that saved us thanks to the sand and the big polls. And the heat, we were walking literally naked. And what we had? Bed bugs, lice, and flies, something else every time, every week something else, it was unbelievable where it came from, because we couldn’t bath and the heat was so great. It’s hard to describe it. Except for that, my husband told Rapha [Raphael] that we need to think about something else, maybe there’s another option. So we opened an entrance to the sewer with saws at the last minute, you need a way to get into the sewers. At first, until the uprising, we went in and out, but when the uprising started we closed ourselves in the bunker, everyone together, and we couldn’t tell anyone where we’re
at, so no one will know. There were cases in the ghetto where they caught some guy who was beaten so hard if he didn’t tell where people are hiding, so we were scared about that. I remember we took an ought to not speak about it to nobody. And in that house where our bunker was, on the fourth floor there was this room where you could breathe a bit, go out a bit, so we were going there in turns. After the uprising started they knew there are places the Jews built, they were walking between the rubble with crowbars to look for something. The Poles. To show the Germans. What I remember from the uprising is that we were already in the bunker, and my brother-in-law had this idea to make a hole through the entire building, and he had this tube that he could look through and see outside. So what did we see? That they gathered all the Jews to the Umshlagplatz. We knew what was going on.”
We press, there was this button on the wall over a button on the wall, like a nail, and this square thing would open up, and there was a ladder, you go down the ladder, and then up in another ladder, and there was this hiding place.
רותפכ הזכ היה
שממ ,ריקב רותפכ לע ריקב
חתפנו ,רמסמ הזכ רותפכ
,םלוס םש היהו ,הזכ עבורמ
ונילע ךכ רחאו ,םלוסב ונדרי
היה הז ,היה םשו םלוסל דוע .הזכ רותסמ
רוסא ונל םכל ועדת -יילא בגה םע ודמעו אובת רהזי ילעבל רמא יכדרמ״ ונחנא .'42 ףוס וא 1943 ראוניב היה הז 'ץיבלינא יכדרמ םע .הככ תומל הרקמב היה הז .תוומ קר ונל הכחמ הכ ןיב םירוביג רותב תומל םיכירצ הלימ ,ילעב לש םירוהה םע הסינכה התואב הרג יתייהש ילש תיבב םירקנוב תונבל םיכירצ ונחנאש טילחה אוה .השרווב הזכ והשמ 69 םע ר'צוק לאפר .םידוהיה תא ליצהל הלוכיש הדיחיה הלצהה היה הזו ךיא לשמל ,תוינכותל תונויער ינימ לכ ול ןתנ ילעבו .'ץיבלינא יכדרמ ונייה ?ךיא ,תרתחמ םצעב היה הז רקנוב היה אל הז .רקנובה תא חותפל ,רמסמ הזכ רותפכ שממ ,ריקב רותפכ לע ריקב רותפכ הזכ היה ,םיצחול
דוע ונילע ךכ רחאו ,םלוסב ונדרי ,םלוס םש היהו ,הזכ עבורמ חתפנו למשח קר אל ונכה .1943 ראוני .הזכ רותסמ היה הז ,היה םשו םלוסל לש דוסייה היה הז ,לודג לודג היה אוה .ינימ לכ ונכה ,היהי אל םא ,יל המדנ 40 הקסבונרומ םע דחיב היה הזו 56 ףוהנמז היה הז ,תיבה הרומו הרומ היה ,ןייטשנרוה תחפשמ היה .הז תחת היה הז .הזכ והשמ םישנא 21 הזיא ונייהו ,הליהקה לש האפורהו אפורה גרבנזורו ,םולבזנור היהיש ורמא סיגו ילעב .םדקומ דואמ ונחנא ,ונדרי רקנובב .הזה רקנובב אוה .ליחתמ שממ הזש וניאר זא ראוניב 18-ב היצקא התייהשמ יוצר לבא ויה םימה .תאצל םיישפוח תונרותב םיישפוח היהנ ונחנאש טילחה זא םירקנוב ינימ לכב םיאצמנ םידוהיהש ורפיס םינלופהש םינמז ויה
ריהב םויו םינמרגל הז תא ורסמ זא ,הז תא לובסל ולכי אל םינלופה הזו בויבה ךרד זג וסינכה .רופא ןשע םיאור םואתפו םש םיבשוי ונחנא המ לבא .היה לכה ,ךרד ונל היה םימ .תורוניצה ךרד ,ונלצא םג סנכנ לבא .הזה ןסחמה לע ןיינבה לכ סרהנ ,ןסחמה לכ ?לודגה ןוסאה היה בושחל םיכירצ ונחנא ]לאפר[ אפר עמשת הככ רמא ןורחא עגרב ילעב עברא םע ןטק רקנוב דוע הז די לע ונינב זא ,ןכ םג הז תא סורהי ילוא תוטימ הזכ ונישעו ןוחטיב רתיל ונל היהיש ,םידומע םע לוח םירטמ תוצצפ ויה הלחתהב ,הככ תמאב המו ,הלילחו סח ונל היהי אל םאו לש ןסחמה לכ םע לפנ לכה ןיינבה לכ הסרהה ,הסרה תוצצפו הפירש יכ ונתוא ליצה הזו הזה רדחל וסנכנ הנורחאה היינשל ונחנאו לכואה .םידגב שממ ילב ונכלה ,הזכ םוחו .וליצה םילודגה םידומעהו לוחה תועובש לכ והשמ םעפ לכב ,םיבובזו ,םיניכ ,םישפשפ ?ונל היה המו תורשפא היה אלש םושמ ,אב הז הפיאמ ןמואי אל הז רחא והשמ ,הככ רמא ילעב הזמ ץוח .השק הז ראתל .לודג הזכ םוח היה ץחרתהל זא .תורשפא דוע שי ילוא והשמ דוע בושחל םיכירצ ונחנא ]לאפר[ אפר בויבה ךרד לבא ,בויבל סנכיהל חתפ םירוסמ םע ונחתפ ןורחאה עגרב דרמה ליחתהשכ .ונסנכנו ונאצי דרמה דע הלחתהב .סנכיהל ךרד ךירצ ינשל דחא רוסא היהש בצמ הזכ היהו ,םישנאה לכ רקנובה ךותב ונרגסנ וטגב םירקמ ויהש םושמ עדי אל דחא ףאש ,םיאצמנ ונחנא הפיא רפסל רוסמי אל אוה םא תוכמ הברה ךכ לכ לביק אוה ,רוחב הזיא וספתש ונייה זא ונאצי ונחנאש ינא תרכוז .לצהמ ונדחפ ונחנא זא םישנא דוע היהש הפיא תיב ותואבו ,דחא ףא ינפב הפה תא חותפל אלש העובש תאצל תצק םושנל היה רשפאש הזכ רדח היה תיעיבר המוקב רקנובה םה ליחתה דרמהש ירחא .םיסנכנו םיאצוי ימ תונרותב ונייה זא תצק םע ושפיח סרהה ךותב וכלה םה ,ונב םידוהיהש תומוקמ שיש ועדי המ דרמה .םינמרגל תוארהל .םינלופה .והשמ שי הפיא שפחל םילזרב רוח תושעל ןויער ול היה ילש סיגלו רקנובב רבכ ונייה ונחנא תרכוז ינאש רוניצה ךרד לכתסהל היה לוכי אוהש הזכ רוניצ ול היהו ןיינבה לכ ךרד .ץאלפגלשמואל םתוא םיפסוא םידוהיה לכש ?וניאר המ זא .םיאור המ ".ונעדי ונחנא
“We were in great pain, we didn’t know what to do. I remember that somehow my brother-in-law took care of the water. But he did say one thing - I’m standing here like a captain of a sinking ship. Whoever has the option, I will open up the entrance to the sewers, if you want to save yourselves. I can’t guarantee anything to anyone.”
,תוחפה לכל ונחנאש דחא רבד .תושעל המ ונעדי אל לודג באכ היה" רבד רמא לבא םימ הרוצ יהשוזיאב השע ילש סיג והשכיאש ינא תרכוז שיש ימל ,עובטל תכלוהש היינואה לש ןטפקש ומכ דמוע ינא -דחא .ומצע תא ליצהל הצורש ימ בויבל חתפ חותפל לדתשא ינא תורשפא ״.רבד םוש דחא ףאל חיטבהל לוכי אל ינא
But he [brother-in-law] did say one thing - I’m standing here like a captain of a sinking ship. Whoever has the option, I will open up the entrance to the sewers, if you want to save yourselves. I can’t guarantee anything to anyone.
4295816 Interview Code English Language
1990 Year New York, USA Location
Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
At January 18th people were already prepared with bunkers. And then we started to improve the bunkers. Because this little one, some of them were very elaborate, but we didn’t realize that some of the bunkers were not on the underground but were on different floors. In the house they blocked up a room, close up, and very elaborate ways how to got in under the toilette, under stove, closet that didn’t removed. Very ingenious ideas. But all these after the uprising, the time when they finally started at April 19th, this was Erev Passover, so at that time they saw that normal faces... put every house just on fire.
Stable Diffusion, Prompt:
"a person opening a secret passage underneath a toilet. The toilet are small, in an old apartment in Warsaw, 1943"
Stable Diffusion, Prompt: "etching black and white illustration of a person entering a secret passage underneath a toilet. The toilet are small, in an old apartment in Warsaw, 1943"
1055934 Interview Code English Language
1988 Year New Haven, Conn., USA Location
Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
Helena C.: at the beginning of 1943, again, people probably realized the end is closing, and is coming soon, and started to build these bunkers, under the basements. Huge places prepared for living for months. And even food was prepared for this type of living. Because, I remember that we were preparing, in our household all kinds of dry food. Dry pasta and dried Challas, so it would be kept for months. As I found out there was a well in the bunker. Because that how it was organized. Because the bunker had essential place with an oven, and a well and then there was a long corridor, like in a prison with little places for the… beds. Everybody was just lying down. But the place around this fireplace which was iron oven in the middle was a place where people could sit and talk.
Everybody probably contributed to building it because it was probably quite expensive. With all kind of limitations at that time. So I remember that when we prepared this dried food and put it down, and some kind of beddings. Because these were just from wood. Three stores of little beds in one cubicle. But everything happened very soon, as soon as we started these preparations. In that time Pesach came… we were preparing for the Seder and suddenly shootings started and everything was prepared, the table.. we left everything and ran away to the bunker and never came back. And stayed in the bunker for several weeks, because it was April 19th, and I end up in the middle of May.
The whole day we could only lie down in this cubicle, which was completely dark. And there was no obviously no electricity. And at night when it was quiet, I remember several times I went out with my cousin. On the surface. And we started to visit the apartments, everything was burned down, but I some of the apartments you could go still on the stairs which were from stone or cement, and find a kitchen which was still functioning and prepare a meal for example, because this little place inside the bunker was not enough for so many families, because there was probably about maybe 20, maybe 25 families in the bunker. So, at night, I remember we took this dry stuff, and try to find kitchen in the burned houses. They are very vivid pictures in my memory, because quiet, everything burned down, and the moon, was still full moon probably, was the only source of light at that time. And cooking a meal in this hanging kitchen in the 3rd or the 4th floor in a burned down area completely. But those nights when we went out, it was again a possibility to find out how everything was destroyed, because everything around, the whole area, everything was burned. There was not one house left. And after these few weeks, suddenly one day, we heard sounds that indicated that somebody digging into the bunker. And after few hours we saw light, and obviously it was the Germans.
Because the bunker had essential place with an oven, and a well and then there was a long corridor, like in a prison with little places for the… beds. Everybody was just lying down. But the place around this fireplace which was iron oven in the middle was a place where people could sit and talk.
They are very vivid pictures in my memory, because quiet, everything burned down, and the moon, was still full moon probably, was the only source of light at that time. And cooking a meal in this hanging kitchen in the 3rd or the 4th floor in a burned down area completely. But those nights when we went out, it was again a possibility to find out how everything was destroyed, because everything around, the whole area, everything was burned. There was not one house left.
I asked Chat GPT to write a prompt from Helena C.'s testimony's first paragraph, to use in Dall-E.
Prompt: " Imagine a scene at the beginning of 1943, where people, sensing the looming end, decide to construct underground bunkers beneath their basements. These bunkers were vast spaces designed to provide shelter for months on end. Visualize the preparation that went into these havens, including the stockpiling of dry food like pasta and dried Challas that could be stored for extended periods. Picture the discovery of a well within the bunker, a crucial resource for survival. Envision the organization of the bunker, featuring an essential area with an oven and a well, followed by a long corridor reminiscent of a prison, with small compartments serving as beds. See everyone lying down, but also visualize a central iron oven, serving as a fireplace, where people could gather, sit, and engage in conversations. Use your imagination to illustrate this unique and resilient underground living experience."
4413723
Interview Code English Language
1999 Year New Haven, Conn., USA Location
Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
“[...] we started preparing ourselves, to hide. We started building a bunker. And the house where my uncle and aunt were living was a huge house... Our was build under the yard, but the entrance was, you had to lift the first step of the stairs, it was very difficult, because actually when you walk into a house you stand on the first step, so we hoped that this will be a really good camouflage. We build it... I didn’t really, but people build it for 70 people. And they had bunks, and they had everything prepared. Food and water, and they took care of everything, medicine, and one of them was a doctor, one was a nurse. They really took care we prepared to stay god knows how long. Francicsanka was at that time, this part of the streets was in the ghetto, and the wall was at the middle of the streets. We were sitting always on the roof, in shifts watching the movements of the Germans outside of ghetto. And then, the bunker was all ready, and the table was all late at the 18th of April, for Seder, when we got word? That the Germans are moving into the ghetto. So we left everything as it was and we went down into the bunker. There were several young people who left the bunker and joined underground. And the ghetto was all burning above us, there was no air, as much as we provided for all kinds of air passages but it was full of smoke and dust, and you couldn’t breathe. So, at night we used to go out. Because at night the Germans were afraid of coming to the ghetto. So, we were working out at night, to breathe that air, but it was better than in the bunker. And it was terribly frustrating because you could not do anything… and you heard shootings and screamings and you didn’t know what was going on [...]”
Our was build under the yard, but the entrance was, you had to lift the first step of the stairs, it was very difficult, because actually when you walk into a house you stand on the first step, so we hoped that this will be a really good camouflage.
Stable Diffusion, Prompt: "A huge house in Warsaw 1943, the first step of the stairs lifts up to reveal a bunker for 70 people, with bunks, food, water and medicines"
Stable Diffusion, Prompt: "70 people are hiding inside a dark underground bunker in Warsaw in 1943, full with wood bunk beds, food, medicines and water"
Dall-E, Prompt (using ChatGPT): Create an illustration showing a hidden entrance in Warsaw in 1943: Entrance by lifting the first step of the stairs in a big, typical house. Visualize this hidden entryway with creative details, emphasizing the element of camouflage and intrigue
Dall-E, Prompt (using ChatGPT): "Create an illustration showing a hidden entrance to a bunker in Warsaw in 1943: Show people entering a bunker by lifting the first step of the stairs in a big house. Visualize this hidden entryway with creative details, emphasizing the element of camouflage and intrigue."
Hebrew Language
Israel Location Yad Vashem Archives
“The entrance was built under the staircase, people got in, crawled all the way to the wall. A part of the wall was on rails, with wheels, so you could move it in, and that way people entered. It was actually a cut, the cut part of the basement. In Warsaw, each resident had a cell inside the cellar, so they cut this cell, a part of the basement and people entered with their most important valuables, so they won’t be stolen by the Germans. I call them ‘living without weapons’, hiding in the bunker. And in those bunkers, there was usually water, gas, a pump, a manual pump, and phone and radio connection, though it was forbidden. In this bunker, the food wasn’t shared with everyone, though some bunkers were sharing. This bunker held on until the fires started, meaning the third day of the uprising. The house was burning but we didn’t know about it. The youth people got outside and saw the fire, so we gave people orders to wet their clothes, cover their mouths and break out. Once broke out, we instinctively ran to the ghetto’s wall, or HaMivrashtanim [factory] in this case. They were shooting grenades and using machine guns from outside of the ghetto. Some people got killed, some were injured, and we ran back to Baube Street, there were public toilets and we hide there. The Germans passed there, shot inside, but didn’t get in. In These kinds of bunkers, or such, lots of people were hidden. But people were hiding inside the houses too, and they had to jump due to the fires, it was actually an act of suicide.
Interviewer: What street was that?
Leon: Shkentraska 38 at the Mivrashtanim [factory]
Interviewer: You didn’t explain much about the wall, correct?
Leon: Correct
Interviewer: Explain again, about the wall
Leon: The bunker was built in a way, that you had to open the cover, get inside, and crawl to the wall. A part of the wall, from the floor, let’s say a square like so – was detached, rebuilt over an iron base with wheels, and it moved using a handle you could pull in. When people entered, they moved that cart with the wall ahead, when it closed hermetically… to the external wall, and then once inside people divided into different cells. They mostly place all kinds of rags and such, people who lived outside, or they scattered the material you use to fill pillows or duvets, and then the Germans didn’t come in, they weren’t interested in that. They discovered the bunkers in a different way, by drilling holes, and then the heat came out. When a heat came out, they would throw tear gas inside or some other chemical, which force the people out. In this case, at first everyone got out when there was no air left to breathe, the heat was unbearable, the candle couldn’t lit, there was no light, nothing, and we didn’t know everything is burning, all the houses including this one [...]”
“[...] You had to crawl in, and here [pointing], this piece of concrete, was a rail and wheels. You could carry it on the rails inside and that’s how you could enter. It was about 80 cm over one meter, maybe a meter and 20 total. Quite small. Our intention was that if a German would try to come and take Jews out, a single man with a gun can kill him or make him run away.”
היה ןאכו ,המינפ לוחזל ךרוצ היהש ]...[״
רשפא היהו .םילגלג לע םיספ היה ,ןוטב תכיתחה
תורשפא התייה זאו המינפ םיספה לע ותוא בוחסל
רטמ לע ילוא ,רטמ לע 80 היה הז לכה ךס .סנכיהל
םאש התייה הנווכהו .תונטק ייד תודימ .םירשעו
הפ קיפסמ יזא ,םידוהי איצוהל הצריו ינמרג אובי
אוהש וא ותוא גורהל תנמ לע קשנ םע דחא שיא
״ המשמ חרבי
?הז בוחר הזיאב :ןייארמ
.םינתשרבמה לצא 38 הקסרטנקש :ןואל
?ןוכנ ,ריקה לע הברה תרבסה אל :ןייארמ
.ןוכנ :ןואל
.ריקה לע בוש ריבסת ,םעפ דוע ריבסת :ןייארמ
ךירצ היהש ,ךכ יונב היה רקנובה :גרביינ לוחזל ,המינפ סנכהל ,הסכמה תא חותפל
,וזכ עבורמ חיננ ,הפצרהמ ,ריקהמ עטק .ריקל םע לזרב סיסב לע שדחמ יונב ,קרופמ היה תידי םע ועסנ םהו המידק רתוי תצק ,םילגלג םישנא רשאכ .המינפ ךושמל רשפא היהש
,המידק ריקה םע וזה הלגעה תא וזיזה ,וסנכנ ,ינוציחה ריקל …יטמרה ןפואב רגסנ הז רשאכ .םיאתה ךותל וקלחתה כ״חא םישנא םינפבו םירבדו םיטוטרמס ינימ לכ ומש בורה לע המ ורזיפש וא ,ץוחב םייחש םישנא ,םירחא זאו ךופ ורזיפש וא ,ךופ ,תוירכל םישמתשמש וליג .הזב וניינעתה אל ,וסנכנ אל םינרמגה חודיק ידי לע ,תרחא ירמגל הרוצב הז תא זא ,םוח אציו …רשאכ .םוחה אצי זאו ,םירוח רמוח והזשיא וא ,עימדמ רמוח המינפ וקרז הפ .תאצל םישנאה תא חירכה הזו ,רחא ימיכ רשאכ ואצי םלוכ ןושארה בלשב ,הז הרקמב יתלב היה םוחה ,המישנל ריוא רבכ היה אל םוש ,רוא היה אל ,הקלדנ אל רבכ רנה ,לבסנ לכ ,הפירשב לכהש ונעדי אל ונחנאו ,רבד ״]...[ הז תיב םגו םיתבה
,תוגרדמ רדחל תחתמ היונב התייה הסינכה"
ריק עטק .ריקל דע ולחז ,המינפ וסנכנ םישנא
זיזהל היה רשפאש םילגלג םעו םיספ לע היה
הז השעמל .וסנכנ םישנא זאו ,המינפ התוא
לכל השרוב .ףתרמהמ קלח וכתח ,ךותיח היה
עטק ,הזכ את וכתח ,ףתרמ ךותב את היה רייד
בושחה שוכרה םע וסנכנ םישנאו ףתרמ לש הלא .םינמרגה םע תכלל אל תנמ לע ,רתויב
ורתתסה ,קשנ אלל םייח םתוא ארוק ינא
כ״דב ,םירקנובה םתואבו .רקנובה ךותב
הבאשמ ,הפמופ םג ,זג ,םימ היה הז רקנובב
היהש תורמל ,וידרו ןופלטל רוביח םג ,תינדי
ללכל ףתושמ ןוזמ היה אל הזה רקנובב .רוסא
ןוזמ םע ןכ םג ויהש םירקנוב ויה ,הייסולכואה
קיזחה הזה רקנובה .הייסולכואה לכל ףתושמ
םויב רמולכ ,תופירשה וליחתה דוע לכ דמעמ תיבה ,סנכנ רשאכ ,תוממוקתהה לש ישילש
הארו אצי רעונה .ךכ לע ונעדי אל ןיידע ,רעב
ביטרהל תוארוה םישנאל ונתנש זא ,שאה תא .הצוחה ץורפלו הפה תא םוטאל ,םידגבה תא ונצרפ רשאכ יביטקניטסניא ןפואבש רורב ,וטגהמ תאצל תנמ לע המוחל ונצר ,הצוחה וטגל ץוחמ .הז הרקמב םינתשרבמהמ וא קלח .הירי תונוכמ םע ורי ,םינומיר וקרזנ הרזחב ונצר ונחנאו ועצפנ ,וגרהנ םישנאהמ םירוביצ םיתוריש המש היה ,הבואב בוחרל המינפ ורי ,ורבע םנמא םינמרגה .ונרתתסהו םירקנוב .המינפ וסנכנ אל לבא ,הסינכה ךותל םישנאש דואמ הברה ,םהימוד וא ,ויה הלאכ ךותב ורתתסה םישנא םג לבא ,ורתתסה ,ץופקל תופירשה ןמזב םיצלאנ ויהו םיתבה .תודבאתה הז היה השעמלו
The entrance was built under the staircase, people got in, crawled all the way to the wall. A part of the wall was on rails, with wheels, so you could move it in, and that way people entered. It was actually a cut, the cut part of the basement. In Warsaw, each resident had a cell inside the cellar, so they cut this cell, a part of the basement and people entered with their most important valuables, so they won’t be stolen by the Germans. I call them ‘living without weapons’, hiding in the bunker. And in those bunkers, there was usually water, gas, a pump, a manual pump, and phone and radio connection, though it was forbidden.
A screenshot from the video "18.1.1943 - fisrt armoured resistance in the Warsaw ghetto" from Yas Vashem channel. Part of the online exhibition: "Voices from hell- Holocaust survivours telling about the last months in Warsaw ghetto".
“[...] We decided we’re creating this hiding place in the fruitshop cellar. You take four bricks out, crawl to the second basement and then arrange the bricks back. We arranged to have a lot of baskets with fruits, we tied a string to the baskets and we pulled the string into this blind basement, as a camouflage for these four bricks. And that is how we were, when the Aktion started, we were about 18 people in this basement.
Today, when I think about it, I wonder how did we sit there? How did we go to the toilets? What did we drink? What did we eat? I can’t remember it, at all. We were lying, the floor was sand, and the walls around us were bricks, completely shut. No opening, no nothing. The only opening was to the fruit shop’s basement. We got to a situation where there was no air - you couldn’t even light a match. And at night we would come out, and everything was completely empty, dead. And we started to think about how would it be when there will be no Jewish people left.”
“[...] They ask us where are we hiding when they see us coming out but we didn’t want to tell them. So our neighbour, who was very clever, told us - look, let’s say the Germans are coming to this house, and you’re running back to your hiding place and we run after you, they will catch us all. So we told them we were hiding in the basement. They told us this is not a good hiding place, and we really couldn’t hide there together with them. We created camouflage for the entire facade because the front side of the house was on a lower floor than the other three wings. There was a closet at the entrance. We moved it, meaning closing the entrance to the attic of this hall. Underneath a shelf downstairs, we would throw a rope, and at the entrance, we place - forgive me - a pot with urine and faeces so if dogs will come to sniff, they won’t smell us. The main thing was that we had the entire attic for ourselves. We had beds there, we had food, we had water, we had medicine. We even had two holes in the wall because the second house remained shattered from the explosion of 39’, and we had rope ladders to descend and hide among the ruins of the destroyed house. We could sit there for years in this attic.”
We decided we’re creating this hiding place in the fruit-shop cellar. You take four bricks out, crawl to the second basement and then arrange the bricks back. We arranged to have a lot of baskets with fruits, we tied a string to the baskets and we pulled the string into this blind basement, as a camouflage for these four bricks. And that is how we were, when the Aktion started, we were about 18 people in this basement.
םיאצוי ונחנאש ואר םהשכ ,םיאבחתמ ונחנא הפיא ונתוא ולאש םה ]...[״ ,הרמא ,תיחקיפ דואמ התייהש הנכשה זא .םהל תולגל וניצר אל ונחנאו אובחמל םיצר םתאו ,הזו תיבל הפ םיאב םינמרגהש דיגנ - יעמשת ונחנאש םהל וניליג זא .ונלוכ תא וספתי ,םכירחא םיצר ונחנאו םכלש
אלו היה רשפא יא תמאבו אובחמ אל הז ורמא םה .ףתרמב םיאבחתמ
יכ ,תיבה לש תיזחה לכל האווסה ונישע ונחנא .ונלוכ סנכיהל ונלוכי
היה .םיפגאה תשולש לכמ הכומנ רתוי המוק התייה תיבה לש תיזחה
תיילע לכל הסינכה תא ונרגס רמולכ ,ןוראה תא ונזזה .ןורא הסינכב םש
ונייה הטמל ףדמל תחתמ .תוחמשה לש הזה םלואה לעמ התיהש גגה
האוצ םע ריס - החילס - ונמש הסינכב םשו ,הטמל םש םילשלתשמ
םיאצמנ םשש וחירי אל םיבלכהש ,םיבלכ םע ואובי םאש ידכ ןתש םעו ,תוטימ םש ונל ויה .ונתושרל המלש גג תיילע ונל התייה ,רקיעה .םישנא םירוח ינש ונל ויה וליפא .תופורת ונל ויה ,םימ ונל ויה ,ןוזמ ונל היה תומלוס ונל ויהו ׳39 לש הצצפההמ ץצפומ ראשנ ינשה תיבה יכ ,ריקב ונלוכי .סורהה תיבה לש תוסירהה ןיב רתתסהלו תדרל רשפאש םילבח ״.תאזה גגה תיילעב םינש םש תבשל
ףתרמל םידרויש אובחמה תא םישוע ונחנאש ונטלחה ונחנאשכ ]...[" ינשה ףתרמה ךותל םילחוז ,םינבל עברא םיאיצומ ,תוריפה תונח לש ,תוריפמ םילס הברה המש ויה ונרדיס םגו םינבלה תא םירדסמ ךכ רחאו רוויעה ףתרמה ךותל םיכשומ ונייה טוחה תאו טוח םע םילסש המ ירה הליחתהשכ ,ונייה ונחנא הככו .םינבלה עברא לש האווסה רותב ,הזה .שיא הרשע-הנומש ףתרמב ונייה ,היצקאה
?םיכרצה תא ונישע הפיא ?המש ונבשי ונחנא ךיא תבשוח םויה ינא ונבכש .ללכב רכזיהל הלוכי אל ינא ?ונלכא ונחנא המ ?וניתש ונחנא המ ירמגלו ,הלאה םינבלהמ ויה תוריקה ביבסמ ,לוחמ התייה הפצרה ,הככ לש ינשה ףתרמל היה ידיחיה חתפה .רבד םוש ילב ,חתפ ילב .רוגס קילדהל היה רשפא יאש ,ףתרמב הזכ בצמל ונעגה ונחנא .תוריפה תונח לכה היהו ,םיאצוי ונייה תאז לכב ונחנא ברעבו .ריווא היה אל -רורפג ״.םידוהי ויהי אל רבכש היהי הז ךיא בושחל ונלחתה ונחנאו .תמ ,קיר
אובחמה תא םישוע ונחנאש ונטלחה ונחנאשכ
םיאיצומ ,תוריפה תונח לש ףתרמל םידרויש
רחאו ינשה ףתרמה ךותל םילחוז ,םינבל עברא
המש ויה ונרדיס םגו םינבלה תא םירדסמ ךכ
טוח םע םילסש המ ירה ,תוריפמ םילס הברה
רוויעה ףתרמה ךותל םיכשומ ונייה טוחה תאו
הככו .םינבלה עברא לש האווסה רותב ,הזה
ףתרמב ונייה ,היצקאה הליחתהשכ ,ונייה ונחנא
.שיא הרשע-הנומש
The main thing was that we had the entire attic for ourselves. We had beds there, we had food, we had water, we had medicine. We even had two holes in the wall because the second house remained shattered from the explosion of 39’, and we had rope ladders to descend and hide among the ruins of the destroyed house. We could sit there for years in this attic.
Dall-E, Prompt: "Generate an illustration that shows an attic on a ruined house in Warsaw in 1943, with a wooden floor, beds, food, water and medicine. Next to it a ruined of a bombed house, with rope ladders to descend and hide among the ruins of the destroyed house"
“[...] How was the bunker? Where we lived inside the basement, in Poland... What do you call it? Shelters, small shelters. So they made a hole and placed a ladder, and that’s how we descended. And then when there were Aktions, everyone would descend. There could be 40-50 people inside it. There were many rooms there. We descended into this shelter, into the bunker, and they closed the cover, and on the cover, they placed a bed so it wouldn’t be visible. And we were there. From time to time, they would send a child to see if it was quiet or not. If it was quiet, they would come back [...]”
“[...] We descended into our bunker. There was a bunker in Rabindzeglasa, there were four rooms. One was for the restroom, one for food, and in one room, we slept. It was a large room. But we heard gunfire. We even heard cannons, missiles [...]”
,יתרפיס רודזורפה ךותב ונרג ונחנאש הפיא ?רקנובה היה ךיא ]...[״ זא .םינטק םיטלקמ ,םיטלקמ ?הזל םיארוק ךיא ..ויה הינלופב ,הטמל
ונדרי תויצקא היהשכ ךכ רחאו .ונדרי הככו ,םלוס ומשו רוח הזכ ושע .םש םירדח הברה ויה .הז ךותב שיא 40-50 תויהל םילוכי ויה .םלוכ לעו ,הסכמה תא הרזח ומשו ,רקנובה ךותל ,הזה טלקמה ךותל ונדרי םעפמ .םש ונייה ונחנאו .םיאור ויה אלש הככ הטימ ומש הסכמה ויה ,טקש היה .אל וא טקש שי םא תוארל דלי הזיא םיחלוש ויה םעפל ״]...[ הרזח םירזוח
העברא ויה ,הסלגאזניבארב רקנוב היה .ונלש
Taken from the article "Hell has Come to Earth" by Havi Dreifuss • Diary translated from Polish by Jerzy Michalowicz Ghetto Fighters House, Berman Archives
Friday, 30.4.43
[...] Today we didn’t hand out any coffee, because a waterline had burst Mr. Sowa’s shelter. He closed the tap (i.e., turned it off). For the first time we draw water from our well. It can be used only for cooking because it hasn’t been filtered for about two months. Our shelter is like a sauna, meaning it’s so hot here. Lack of air is getting worse all the time. [...]
Morning, Sunday, 2.5.43
[...] I am on guard duty right now, and have still two hours left. Below I sketch the diagram of our bunker with all the entrance. The idea of constructing [a] bunker came up only after the January Aktion.
The diagram of our bunker Mila Street
[Clockwise]
Underground entrance
Main air [pipe]
Well
Latrine
4 electric ranges
[Beneath]
Entrance through the trapdoor(Judas)
Sleeping Bunks
[On the left]
The wall of the building up to the gate Defensive embankment (rampart)
We had always believed that one should hide well. People who had work permits, and showed up during the blockades were taken away. Only those who went into hiding remained. This was the reason bunker construction became common. People set to work day and night with enthusiasm: for example, bed-bunks, floors, stairs were constructed, a well was dug. The timber for construction was taken from apartments (i.e, abandoned apartments).
In my fantasy, for a moment I see our shelter as a sinking boat.
Book: Fresh Wounds - Early Narratives of Holocaust Survival • p. 115
[...] [At Schultz’s workshop] people worked at furriery, shoemaking, [and] various trades. One of the largest shops. At that time I still had an uncle, a brother, and a sister. We were [living] together. In 1943 after the ghetto purge we perceived that the time was coming for Schultz’s as well. During the second Seder night we went down into the bunker, entirely under the ground, very deep underground. Without windows, air, or anything.Thirty-odd people were living in that bunker. We had been preparing for months in advance. We knew that a moment would arrive when they would make Warsaw completely Jew-free. [...]
Interviewer: How did people sleep and eat there?
We had made makeshift beds. As for eating, we lived on whatever we could. Because food did not enter one’s mind. They took us out on a Friday at one o’clock. [Earlier] the same day people who were discovered in bunkers were taken to the headquarters of the Jewish Council and shot. Fate wanted us to remain alive, and we were taken out and searched. [...]
During the second Seder night we went down into the bunker, entirely under the ground, very deep underground. Without windows, air, or anything. Thirty-odd people were living in that bunker. We had been preparing for months in advance. We knew that a moment would arrive when they would make Warsaw completely Jew-free.
The constant dilution led to a feverish construction of both good and bad shelters. Some people built according to their own ideas in complete secrecy, while others engaged with trusted engineers. The secrecy from the neighbors did not stem from fear of betrayal, although caution had to be exercised, but rather because the limited spaces intended for shelters could accommodate only a very small number of people. Experience has shown that during times when it was necessary to hide from the Germans, people who had no predetermined shelter forcibly entered a hiding place known to them, causing overcrowding that made living conditions unbearable. Poor ventilation did not allow for fresh air flow. The shelters became terrifying places of torture.
Difficulties in water supply, sewage, electricity, and smart ventilation of the entrance were solved in various ways. As an example, I describe a few shelter designs:
First example: Disconnecting the gas in all floors of the building by blocking the doors and covering the walls of the adjacent room with wallpaper to conceal the signs of recent construction. Entry was through the roof, with a reserved exit from the apartment on the ground floor to the adjacent house’s sealed basement, from which a ladder led to a door made in the small well of the water meter. Passing between the floors was done through the false ceilings of all disconnected rooms.
Second example: Placing a brick oven next to the wall of the disconnected room and connecting the oven to a pipe in a portable tube. The oven, placed on spherical supports, could be moved from the connection fixed on the new wall.
Third example: Connecting the water pipe to the wall of the disconnected room and installing a high-sided paper basin that concealed the connection on the wall.
Fourth example: Entry through a door in the workshop floor to a sealed basement [prepared] for the workshop employees. The connection points of the removed floorboards were reinforced with the legs of a workbench installed with two “donkeys” and a plank. The “donkeys” were equipped with two evening and morning planks that were freely placed above the floor. One of them, attached to the “donkey,” served as a real reinforcement, while the plank of the other “donkey” was attached along its entire length to the connection line of the door and served as a handle for lifting it. The two sides of the door touched the planks attached around the walls at a right angle, and the fourth side touched the parallel floor planks.
Second example: Placing a brick oven next to the wall of the disconnected room and connecting the oven to a pipe in a portable tube. The oven, placed on spherical supports, could be moved from the connection fixed on the new wall.
רונת תבצה :היינש המגוד
בצוהש ,רונתה תא .דיינ רוניצב רשפא םיירודכ םיבסמ לע
.שדחה ריקה
ויה .םיעורגו םיבוט םיטלקמ לש תינתחדק היינבל םרג דימתמה לולידה םירחא וליאו ,םירחא ינפמ הרומג תוידוסב םהלש תונויער יפל ונבש םינכשה ינפמ תוידוסה .ןומא ונתנ םהבש םיסדנהמ םע םירבדב ואב אלא ,תוריהז לע רומשל ךירצ היה יכ םא ,הדיגבל ששחמ העבנ אל רפסמ קר ליכהל ולכי םיטלקמל ודעונש םימצמוצמה תומוקמהש םושמ רתתסהל ךירצ היהש תועשב יכ חיכוה ןויסינה .םישנא לש דואמ טעומ שארמ עובק טלקמ םוקמ םהל היה אלש םישנא וסינ םינמרגה ינפמ הרשפא אלש תופיפצ ומרגו םהל עודי היהש רותסמ לא חוכב סנכיהל םיטלקמה .חצ ריווא לש המרזה רשפא אל עורגה רורוואה .אתווצב םייח .םימויא םייוניע תומוקמל וכפה
תמכוחמ האווסהו למשחו בויב ,םימ תקפסה לש תושקה תויעבה תא םיטלקמ ראתמ ינא המגודה םשל .תונוש תורוצב ורתפ הסינכה לש ...ינונכת ירפ םידחא
ןודינה ןיינבה לש תומוקה לכב ןוטיקה קותינ :הנושארה המגודה הנה םיטפטב ךומסה רדחה לש תוריקה יופיחו תותלדה לש המיסח ידי לע תיילע ךרד הסינכה .היירטה היינבה תדובע לש םינמיסה תמלעה םשל
לש םוטאה ףתרמה לא עקרקה תמוקב הרידה ןמ תיברזר האיצי ,גגה ראבב השענש חתפ לא הלעת הכילומ ונממו ,ץצפוהש ךומסה תיבה לכ לש תורקתה ךרד ליבוה תומוקה ןיב רבעמ .םימה דדומ לש הריעזה .םיקתונמה םירדחה
רוביחו קתונש רדחה לש ריקה דיל םיחירא רונת תבצה :היינש המגוד םיירודכ םיבסמ לע בצוהש ,רונתה תא .דיינ רוניצב הבוראל רונתה .שדחה ריקה לע עבקנש רוביחה ןמ זיזהל רשפא
רויכ תנקתהו קתונמה רדחה ריק לע םימה תרנצ רוביח :תישילש המגוד .ריקה לע רוביחה תא הריתסמה ההובג ןפוד לעב ריינ
םוסח ףתרמ לא הכאלמה תיב תפצרב חתפ ךרד הסינכ :תיעיבר המגוד הפצרה ישרק לש רוביחה תומוקמ .ןודינה הכאלמה תיב ידבועל ]ןכוהש[ "םירומח" ינשמ ןקתוהש הכאלמה תיב ןחלוש יערכב ווסוה ורסונש ןפואב םיחנומ ויהש ברעו יתש םישרקב םידיוצמ ויה "םירומח"ה .חולו שמיש ,"רומח"ל דומצ היהש ,םהמ דחא .הפצרה לעמ עופישב ישפוח לא וכרוא לכל דומצ היה רחאה "רומחה" לש שרקה וליאו ,שממ קוזיחל חתפה לש םידדצה ינש .ותמרהל תידי שמשמו חתפה לש רוביחה וק עגנ יעיברה דצהו ,תוריקה ביבס ודמצוהש םישרקב הרשי תיווזב ועגנ .הזל הז ליבקמב םיחנומה הפצרה ישרקב
הבוראל רונתה רוביחו קתונש
Fifth example: Entering an atomic shelter through an underground ramp beneath the wall. People entered through a concealed revolving drum in the ground: the person entering would place the cover on top of it, which had a small opening [added]. After placing the cover, they would extend their hand through the small opening and cover the entire surface with sand and plaster debris, and then cover the cover and the small opening in the same manner. All of this was equipped with a handle from below, making it convenient to use. This facility was located in the corner behind the door that opened into an adjacent basement. The advantage of this setup was that when the door opened, it stopped on top of the covered drum.
Sixth example: A small concrete well was built with an iron container inside, attached to the wall. Water flowed into the container through a rubber pipe and was discharged at the bottom, which was equipped with a stopper. When the container was lowered, it was possible to enter the shelter, and after lowering the container, it would be filled with water and placed inside through a small opening. When they wanted to exit the shelter, they would overflow the water from below and lift the container. On top of the fresh water, they would automatically scatter dust to make it appear as if it were dirty water that had been standing for a long time.
There were also shelters installed with great effort and expense beneath basements. Inside them, according to their capacity, there were compartments or other bunks for ten, twenty, fifty, or three hundred people. Water was usually purified, filtered, and often pumped using independent pumps. Electricity was mostly supplied directly from the main connection of the generator.
I knew shelters that were installed in the cellars of transformers, which, as usual, were closed behind iron doors with small windows and outside had a warning sign with a skull. In these cellars, a high-voltage cable was placed on the iron door, and in front of it, they placed a wet rag. This was done to deter anyone attempting to enter. These shelters had the undeniable advantage of being completely dry and warm, allowing people to lie on the floor even on cold days.
In the shelter where I stayed for two days, there was a small ventilation opening facing the street. I utilized it as a projector: I installed a white screen on the dark gate across and obtained inverted images of the street movement in this way.
In the shelter where I stayed for two days, there was a small ventilation opening facing the street. I utilized it as a projector: I installed a white screen on the dark gate across and obtained inverted images of the street movement in this way.
הנפש ןטק רורווא בנשא היה
לש תוכופה תונומת יתגשה וז .בוחרב העונתה
לא .ריקל תחתמ הלעת ךרד םוטא ףתרמל הסינכ :תישימח המגוד םש היה סנכנה :המדאב רתסומ דיברק ףות ךרד םיסנכנ ויה הלעתה רחאל .]ףסונ[ ריעז הסכמ ובו לוגע רבעמ ןקתוה ובש הסכמה תא וילע לכ תא םיסכמו ריעזה חתפל דעבמ די םיאיצומ ויה הסכמה תא ומשש תאו הסכמה תא ךרד התואב םיסכמ ךכ רחאו ,חיט יבגרו לוחב חטשה שומיש רשפאש רבד ,תידיב הטמלמ דיוצמ היה הז לכ .ריעזה חתפה ףתרמ לא החתפנ רשא תלדה ירוחאמ הניפב אצמנ הזה ןקתמה .חונ יבג לע הרצענ איה תלדה תחיתפ םעש ןוויכ ןורתי היה הז לכל .ךומס .הסוכמה ףותה
לכמ ,ריקה לא דומצ ,הכותבו ןוטב היושע הנטק ראב :תישיש המגוד התייהש ,ותיתחתב וכפשנו ימוג רוניצב לכמה לא ומרזוה םימה .לזרב ,טלקמל סנכיהל רשפא היה לכמה תא ודירוהשכ .םותסשב תדיוצמ
ךרד המינפ ותוא םיסינכמו םימ ותוא םיאלממ ויה לכמה תדרוה ירחאו הטמלמ םימה תא םיעפוש ויה טלקמה ןמ תאצל וצר רשאכ .ןטק חתפ יטמוטוא ןפואב םירזפמ ויה םיירטה םימה ינפ לע .לכמה תא םילעמו .בר ןמז הז םידמועה םיכלכולמ םימ ומכ וארייש ידכ קבא
םכותב .םיפתרמל תחתמ בר ריחמבו ץמאמב ונקתוהש םיטלקמ םג ויה ינב 300 ,50 ,20 ,הרשעל םירחא םיעוצי וא םישגרד ויה ,םחפנ יפל .תויאמצע תובאשמב תובורק םיתיעל ובאשנו וננוס ,וחדקנ םימ .םדא .יאנשה לש ישארה רוביחהמ תורישי בור יפ לע קפוס למשחה
םירוגס םה ליגרכש ,םיאנש לש םיאתב ונקתוהש םיטלקמ יתרכה םע הרהזא חול םיאשונ םה ץוחבו תוניירושמ לזרב תותלד ירוחאמ ומש הינפלו ,לזרבה תלד לע הובג חתמ לבכ חנוה הלא םיאתב .תלוגלוג .המינפ סנכיהל הסניש ימ לכ עיתרהל ידכ השענ רבדה .בוטר טוטרמס םימחו ירמגל םישבי ויהש רערועמ יתלבה ןורתיה היה הלאה םיטלקמל .רופכ ימיב ףא הפצרה לע בכשל רשפא היהש דע יתלצינ .בוחרל הנפש ןטק רורווא בנשא היה םיימוי יתיהש ובש טלקמב לוממש לפאה רעשה לע ןבל ךסמ יתנקתה :רוטק'זורפכ אופא ותוא .בוחרב העונתה לש תוכופה תונומת יתגשה וז ךרדבו
Dall-E, Prompt: "Create an illustration that depicts an underground room in Warsaw in 1943, show a man facing a white bedsheet hanging on the wall in front of him. On the sheet, an inverted image of the street movement being displayed."
Pictures from the Scharf Rafael Felix (doctor) Collection are taken from the Imperial War Museums (IWM) © IWM HU 60639
Screenshots from the Muzeum POLIN film "There was no hope. Warsaw Ghetto Uprising 19th April 1943". Materials taken from archival collections of The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, USC Shoah Foundation, Filmoteki Narodwej, Telewizji Polskiej S.A
Pictures by Heinrich Jost are credited to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Guenther Schwarberg
Tamar Ben-Joya acknowledges the USC Shoah Foundation for its support of this research
The following survivors' testimonies were taken from the USC Shoah Foundation:
Frieda Kliger Estelle Laughlin Pinchas Gutter Larry Lesser Tola Hauptman Danna Fast
Blake Schiff Eddy Yagodzinsky Renia Britstone Lusia Haberfeld Hela Blumenthal
Haim Zilberstein · Guta Fleising · Sophie Rosenthal · Mikhal Hefer · Erna Rosenthal · Irving Milchberg
Henry Tiger 'Adah Rakots Renata Roz Eddie Bachner Sima Blatman Terezah Horniker
Jack Baum Li'on Kopelman
The following survivors' testimonies were taken from The Fortunoff Video Archive:
Roma B. Helena C. Hirsch A. Anna Anka Rochman Halina B.
The following survivors' testimonies were taken from The Yad Vashem Archive: Zola Brightbert Shlomo Sekrovich Leon Neiberg
