Railway employees brought news to the camp as well. When we were at work at the railway station, they handed newspapers to us which we subsequently smuggled into the camp. We also used the railway employees to send out little messages in miniature handwriting and received replies as well as money through these railway colleagues. This courier service worked well and was rewarded appropriately. The exchange of papers took place in the toilets where the soldiers on guard did not follow us. Later, even officers became involved in the courier service. They delivered money to us and were rewarded for this at home. Work at the railway station created an opportunity for us to send news out, thus breaking the silence about life in the Vapniarka camp. People outside found out about our fate, and this was very important.
Life in the camp seemed to calm down and become normal. We now had money, and the commanders turned a blind eye, so we were able to buy food from farmers, who now regularly turned up at the camp gate twice a week. This too was certainly a result of our improved relationship with the commanders.
The men who had been ordered to the train station to unload coal, including myself, tried especially to “make friends” with the guards (most of them were police reserves). We made it clear to them that it was not only we Jews who were suffering, but they too, because they had to be on duty during those cold winter nights and live separated from their families. Thus, their life was “almost” as hard as ours. Our approach was based on the idea of achieving solidarity between internees and guards, and this political work really bore fruit later on. Regular contact between internees and guards enabled the guards to understand the true nature of Jewish people, i.e. that they were not as horrible as anti-Jewish propaganda constantly tried to portray them.
In a large camp like this there were many tasks which had to be performed thoroughly. Here are just a few examples, because it would be too much to list all of them: work outside the camp, work inside the camp to maintain hygiene, preparation and distribution of food, organisation of heating fuel, etc. In the past, the commanders had assigned people to different tasks, but this job was now left to the internees' management. The commanders merely came to check whether different tasks had been carried out properly. Thus, the entire administration of the camp life was left to the collective. This was a great achievement, because if there was unhappiness or disagreement - which there was - we dealt with it ourselves.
One must not forget that, in our situation, everybody was in fear of their life, and if a person lacked discipline, he or she could easily turn into a “wild animal”. I mentioned the illegal organisation which had an influence upon its members. However, each of these members had to get involved with several non-members in order to inform them and persuade them to join the solidarity movement of the internees as well. Given the different backgrounds these people came from and the kind of life they had been used to, this was no easy task.
A certain Mr Weiss from Arad was an naïve man. When they recruited potential deportees and read out the names of sympathisers arrested in Arad, they found out that they werenot looking for this Mr Weiss, but for another Mr Weiss. They released Mr Weiss whom they’d taken by mistake, which was a miracle. However, this Mr Weiss thought he was very smart. He went back to them to ask for letter of confirmation, stating that he was the “good” Mr Weiss and not the one they were looking for. At that moment they realised that they needed one additional man to
Life in the camp seemed to calm down and become normal. We now had money, and the commanders turned a blind eye, so we were able to buy food from farmers, who now regularly turned up at the camp gate twice a week. This too was certainly a result of our improved relationship with the commanders.
The men who had been ordered to the train station to unload coal, including myself, tried especially to “make friends” with the guards (most of them were police reserves). We made it clear to them that it was not only we Jews who were suffering, but they too, because they had to be on duty during those cold winter nights and live separated from their families. Thus, their life was “almost” as hard as ours. Our approach was based on the idea of achieving solidarity between internees and guards, and this political work really bore fruit later on. Regular contact between internees and guards enabled the guards to understand the true nature of Jewish people, i.e. that they were not as horrible as anti-Jewish propaganda constantly tried to portray them.
In a large camp like this there were many tasks which had to be performed thoroughly. Here are just a few examples, because it would be too much to list all of them: work outside the camp, work inside the camp to maintain hygiene, preparation and distribution of food, organisation of heating fuel, etc. In the past, the commanders had assigned people to different tasks, but this job was now left to the internees' management. The commanders merely came to check whether different tasks had been carried out properly. Thus, the entire administration of the camp life was left to the collective. This was a great achievement, because if there was unhappiness or disagreement - which there was - we dealt with it ourselves.
One must not forget that, in our situation, everybody was in fear of their life, and if a person lacked discipline, he or she could easily turn into a “wild animal”. I mentioned the illegal organisation which had an influence upon its members. However, each of these members had to get involved with several non-members in order to inform them and persuade them to join the solidarity movement of the internees as well. Given the different backgrounds these people came from and the kind of life they had been used to, this was no easy task.
A certain Mr Weiss from Arad was an naïve man. When they recruited potential deportees and read out the names of sympathisers arrested in Arad, they found out that they werenot looking for this Mr Weiss, but for another Mr Weiss. They released Mr Weiss whom they’d taken by mistake, which was a miracle. However, this Mr Weiss thought he was very smart. He went back to them to ask for letter of confirmation, stating that he was the “good” Mr Weiss and not the one they were looking for. At that moment they realised that they needed one additional man to
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