It was not without reason that the Vapniarka camp was called the “camp of death”. Before us, in October 1941, half of the 2000 prisoners had died from starvation, cold, lack of hygiene, typhus and other diseases. There was no medical care. At that time, Vapniarka resembled the other camps in Transnistria, where more than 300,000 Jews lost their lives. However, from 1942-1943 Vapniarka was different from German concentration camps and death camps. The aim was the same: the extermination of internees, but the method was different: they tried to cause a slow, painful death by poisoning. - At the Vapniarka camp gate, we were met with the following words:
“You have arrived at a camp that you’ll leave either on crutches or crawling on all fours!”
We only understood the meaning of these words later on, but it was clear that the camp’s management intended to exterminate us.
The camp was secured by triple-wired fences. Inside, there were three one-storey main buildings and some other small buildings which were used as kitchens and for other purposes. The women were accommodated in the first building, the men in the second building and in the third building, besides non-political prisoners, there were also approximately another 50 deportees from our own ranks who had not been previously detained.
The prisoners who had already been detained before us were so ill that they could only crawl on the floor. They were very soon “removed” to make room for those prisoners who had been convicted or sentenced as criminals. As it turned out later, a special task had been planned for this group. We also found out that, before our arrival, they had opened the camp gates to a group of prisoners who were already paralysed. These prisoners were told that they were free to go wherever they liked. They were all shot as soon as they were outside the camp gates.
The doors of the building were locked at night, despite the fact that, in the beginning, the ground floor windows had no glass. It would have been easy to get into the courtyard, but it would have been pointless and nobody attempted it. The rooms were cold, there were no beds or bunks, we slept on the concrete floor on a thin layer of straw and we were freezing. Most of us had caught colds. We put on everything we possessed to protect ourselves against the cold. We suffered constantly from weak bladders and, because we were not allowed to use the latrine, a barrel was placed in the dormitory where more than 100 men could go to relieve themselves. In the mornings, those on duty had to drag the barrel and its contents to the latrine, empty it out and clean it. I was not spared this task, either.
When they opened the pavilion doors in the morning, everybody rushed to the only cold water tap in the courtyard to get some water. The internees formed a long queue and arguments started about who would be allowed to get water first. It was quite clear that the camp commanders deliberately caused a shortage of water to make our lives more difficult and to attempt to trigger arguments and disharmony among the internees. However, the internees immediately took steps to ensure a disciplined distribution of water. When the first snow fell in winter, we used it to wash ourselves and to make tea.
“You have arrived at a camp that you’ll leave either on crutches or crawling on all fours!”
We only understood the meaning of these words later on, but it was clear that the camp’s management intended to exterminate us.
The camp was secured by triple-wired fences. Inside, there were three one-storey main buildings and some other small buildings which were used as kitchens and for other purposes. The women were accommodated in the first building, the men in the second building and in the third building, besides non-political prisoners, there were also approximately another 50 deportees from our own ranks who had not been previously detained.
The prisoners who had already been detained before us were so ill that they could only crawl on the floor. They were very soon “removed” to make room for those prisoners who had been convicted or sentenced as criminals. As it turned out later, a special task had been planned for this group. We also found out that, before our arrival, they had opened the camp gates to a group of prisoners who were already paralysed. These prisoners were told that they were free to go wherever they liked. They were all shot as soon as they were outside the camp gates.
The doors of the building were locked at night, despite the fact that, in the beginning, the ground floor windows had no glass. It would have been easy to get into the courtyard, but it would have been pointless and nobody attempted it. The rooms were cold, there were no beds or bunks, we slept on the concrete floor on a thin layer of straw and we were freezing. Most of us had caught colds. We put on everything we possessed to protect ourselves against the cold. We suffered constantly from weak bladders and, because we were not allowed to use the latrine, a barrel was placed in the dormitory where more than 100 men could go to relieve themselves. In the mornings, those on duty had to drag the barrel and its contents to the latrine, empty it out and clean it. I was not spared this task, either.
When they opened the pavilion doors in the morning, everybody rushed to the only cold water tap in the courtyard to get some water. The internees formed a long queue and arguments started about who would be allowed to get water first. It was quite clear that the camp commanders deliberately caused a shortage of water to make our lives more difficult and to attempt to trigger arguments and disharmony among the internees. However, the internees immediately took steps to ensure a disciplined distribution of water. When the first snow fell in winter, we used it to wash ourselves and to make tea.
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