Sima Blatman

“[...] 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.