Hela Blumenthal

“[...] 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. [...]”

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.