Holocaust Survivor: Ruth Netzer (nee Gottlieb)

Born 1929 in Orkucany, Czechoslovakia. Only Jewish family in Orkucany. Expelled to Kosice after Hungarian annexation on grounds that father is Hungarian. Father detained in Garany camp because of lack of Hungarian citizenship. Zionist youth flee from Kosice to Budapest. Cousins flee to Czechoslovakia after Germans enter Hungary. To Auschwitz. Month in Bergen-Belsen, autumn 1944. To Markleeberg labor camp near Leipzig. Work in camp and in factory for airplane spare parts. Released from infirmary with help of Jewish doctor. Evacuated from Markleeberg. Hides in barn, arrested by German police. In camp for Russian women prisoners till liberation. Return to Kosice. Zionist training camp and Zionist activity till journey to Israel, 1949.

The compassion of Jewish women

I was in Bergen-Belsen about a month. In the middle of October they rounded up our group and took us to Markleeberg, a town not far from Leipzig. In this camp (a sub-camp of Buchenwald) in the Leipzig industrial zone there were only women. A group of Jewish women prisoners from Auschwitz had preceded us here, and we were followed a little later by the group that had remained in Bergen-Belsen. It was a small camp. I can't give an exact estimate of the number of prisoners, but there must have been about a thousand women. At the outset, we didn't work in the factory near the camp. We were kept in a barrack to make sure we weren't carrying any disease and we worked inside the camp. In the camp we were guarded by SS people SS women, but also men.

There was a factory producing airplane spare parts. Later our group was assigned to work there. I didn't work in this factory, but my friend did. The workers had to stand at the machine for many long hours turning out a certain quota of parts. The workers included German civilians, and prisoners Russians, Poles, Dutch and perhaps other nationalities. They were in a separate camp, and we met only in the factory.

At first I worked in the Baukommando, the construction unit. Our work consisted mainly of filling wheelbarrows with sand and hauling the loads from place to place, under the vigilant supervision of SS women. We worked in pairs one girl would fill up the wheelbarrow and the other would wheel it from place to place. I was the youngest, and I had a hard time hauling the wheelbarrow. My partner tried to make it easier for me by not filling our wheelbarrow. The SS woman noticed. I don't remember if I got slapped, but we were warned not to do it again. After that I had to haul full wheelbarows all over the place, and it was very hard for me. After one day's work I fell sick. When work ended I came down with a high fever and I was put in the infirmary. There was a Jewish woman doctor there, a member of our group of prisoners. She took very good care of me, but it was a long time before my fever went down. I was there nearly a month, and I was in very weak condition.

From time to time SS men came to check up on the patients. One day that doctor said to me: "You shouldn't stay here. It's dangerous to be in a place like this too long. The SS officer has been coming here too frequently, and I'm afraid they're planning something." Shortly afterwards we were all called out to a lineup, which the sick people also had to attend. One of the SS men demanded 10 women for work. The work was in the big kitchen of the factory, involving peeling potatoes. That doctor recommended me for the job. There were about 15 of us. Much to our luck, the person in charge of the kitchen was a German civilian, and we were not under the regular watch of the SS women. He and his wife treated us very decently. The place was warm and I didn't go hungry. The job I got thanks to that doctor saved my life, because my health had deteriorated, and there I gradually came back to myself.

back to top of page

back to Holocaust Testimonies Homepage

back to top of page

Previous Articles