Mindel Diamond Shoah Foundation Testimony

April 24th 1996 interview with survivor Mindel Diamond, D-I-A-M-O-N-D maiden name Kasowitz K-A-S-O-W-I-T-Z. My name is Ben Nachman N-A-C-H-M-A-N. Interview being conducted in Omaha, Nebraska USA in English.

Can you give me your name, please?

Mindel.

And your last name?

Diamond.

And how do you spell your last name?

D-I-A-M-O-N-D

And what was your maiden name?

Kasowitz.

And how do you spell that?

K-A-S-O-W-I-T-Z

And can you tell me when you were born?

I was born March 10, 1990, 1929.

And where were you born?

In Poland in Dolhinow.

And how do you spell Dolhinow?

Dolhinow D-O-L-H-I-N-O-W.

And how old are you today?

I am 67.

Mrs. Diamond, can you tell me about growing up in Dolhinow?

Well, I grew up in a nice home with, I had two sisters, and I went to school, to a cultural school, Hebrew school and I, you know, we had friends, we had family and we used to get together and there wasn't too much entertainment there like we have here. and there wasn't too much entertainment there like we have here. But as long as we had the family and we had friends, it made us happy.

Was Dolhinow a very large community?

No, no, not too large, small.

Did it have a large Jewish population?

Yes, oh yes, it was in that over 3,000, 4,000 in that small town, you know. So that that counts quite a bit in a small town.

Did you live primarily among Jewish families?

Yes, yes. And practically the most, we had some gentile families and some Jewish families and we had, it was a mixture naturally, just like any place else.

Did you live in an apartment building?

A home.

In a home.

Yes.

Can you describe your home for me?

Well, it was unusual, I mean a home just like they used to have in Poland, you know it wasn't too fancy, but it was nice, we had a home of our own.

Do you remember how many rooms you had in your home?

It was about four or five rooms, you know, it wasn't as much room we have here, naturally but . . .

How did you heat your home in the wintertime?

With wood.

Wood burning stoves.

Yes, with wood.

And did you have plumbing in your home?

Yes, outside the plumbing, but we had water, we used to bring it from the well in the house.

Did you have a large yard?

Yes, we did, we had a big yard, we used to have a big garden and by us we used to plant a lot of vegetables and yes, and we had a horse and a cow. You know, like they used to live in small towns, to have things of their own, to have their own milk, their own cheese, we used to make, you know, bake our own bread. So this is how we used to live.

Did you get along good with your neighbors?

Yes. Very well, yes.

What about the non-Jewish neighbors?

Yes, we had, we had non-Jewish neighbors in our street. Very nice, we got along with them, wonderful.

What kind of work did your father do?

He was in some business, it's really very hard to describe what. He used to buy things and sell different things, he used to buy like, dried up mushrooms. He used to buy you know, the the hair from, from hogs, and he used to make from that brushes. You know, some things that it is really hard to describe with what he was getting his business in. But he was traveling on the road and he used to buy different things and sell it. He used to buy coal and make oil out of that, he used to sell it. Something like this, I was a young girl, but I remember some things, but he used to buy and sell.

How was your family doing economically during those growing up years?

Economically, we made a living, we weren't rich people, but we always had food on the table and we had clothes to wear and then we did the best we could.

Can you describe a Shabbat meal for me?

That was something that everybody- most of the people kept up, the holidays, the Sabbath, there wasn't somebody that he is going to work on Sabbath or on a holiday. That was the main that the family was together and enjoying the holidays, enjoying the Sabbath, you always knew that the father, even if he is on the road he'll always come home before Shabbos and before a holiday. You knew that we are all going to be together and we used to prepare food, we used to bake our own challahs. We used to, for the holidays and the Sabbath and you used to have a special meal for this, like cooking different menus, you know. And going to the stores, preparing everything because the holiday is coming or the Sabbath is coming to have something different than you had during the week. So that was something that you had a feeling for it. You knew that it's coming and you have to be prepared for it.

Did you have any guests come in for dinner?

We didn't have too many like we have here inviting people for meals, for dinners, but you used to come like a holiday, like Simchat Torah. You used to invite people from the synagogue to come to have something to, like to have a drink and have something from cake, you know and some different cooking the mother used to prepare. Just to come to joy, to be a little joyful for the holiday.

Did you attend a synagogue?

Yes, all the time.

Was it a regular synagogue?

Oh yes, yes, we had, in our home town, we had about five, six synagogues. Yes, there were some of them smaller, some larger, but we had, yes.

And did you attend regularly?

Yes, oh yes, especially on the Sabbath and the holidays, yes.

What kind of schooling did you have during these years?

I went to a Hebrew school, a cultural school, that was a private school, and we- I was learning both languages, Hebrew and Polish. So we had, they used to bring in teachers from other bigger towns, for us to hav- to teach us. So that was a very good school that I attended.

Was this far from your home?

Yes, it wasn't too far but it wasn't so close. We used to walk quite a few blocks to school and from school, we didn't have buses there, transportation, but we used to walk. In the winter time, and any time we had to walk, to school and from school.

Were the students all Jewish in this school?

Yes. In my school, yes.

Did you attend any public schools growing up?

I didn't, but my sisters did.

And the war came along while you were still a student, is that right?

Yes, oh yes, I was quite young. Yes.

Did you have an extended family living in Dolhinow?

You mean Uncles Aunts? Yes, many of them. My mother, she only had one brother but my father, he came from a bigger, a big family. He had sisters, he had brothers. Yes, we had a lot of cousins there, we did have relatives.

Most of them living in the same town?

In the same town, yes.

Did you have any family living in other towns in Poland?

Yes, my mother used to have an aunt living by Vilna. The whole mother's sister and a family. She didn't come from a big family, my mother, and her father died when she was really young, so her mother used to live with us.

Did you have any occasion to visit any family outside of your town?

No, no I was too young to travel and I didn't go places, no.

Can you tell me about your own family? Your siblings, your brothers, sisters, your mother, father?

I had two sisters and they, we got along very nicely. And we were brought up naturally together. And we respected each other, and they were each one of us was older I was the youngest one in the family. So the older sister, naturally she had her friends and the other sister, she had her friends and I had my friends. So we just, you know, everybody goes their own way.

And your other sisters were going to public school at this time?

Yes, they did.

How much older were your sisters than you?

One was six years older, one was three.

When did you notice things starting to change in Poland as the war was approaching?

See, in 1939 the Russians came to our hometown. So we had a change already from, the change from, we used to live under Poland, and then in 1939, the Russians came to us and then we found out that they're going to talk about some war and in 1939, we started to hear already what goes on deep in Poland in the big cities with the Jews, then when Hitler came to power. So we started hearing about that it started to start some killing. They started in the different, in the big cities. And so naturally we were worried, we were terrible afraid about, we didn't know exactly when it's going to come to us, and it took a couple years. And one day, we were getting prepared for Passover, and it was about a couple days before the holiday, they just stormed into our hometown, the Germans. We weren't prepared, we didn't know exactly when they are coming, they came suddenly, and we were, we didn't know where to run. Everybody ran in a different place, and they started to organize people to take them, whom they caught, to take them to the market And there where they got about 800-1000 people right the first day when they came in. Everybody from my family was hiding in different places I didn't know where they were, they didn't know where I was, and it took a couple days it was right before Passover holiday, and we heard that the shooting got quiet. So we started to come out from the bunkers, you know, where we were hiding, I was hiding by an aunt with her family under the ground, they had something to go in there to hide. And after we heard that the fighting was quiet down, we started to go out and then we found out the tragedies, what happened. My mother, my sister, my grandmother, relatives that they took them out to behind the town in a barn, and they burned them up.

Well before this time, how long were the Russians in the town before the Germans came?

The Russians were there I think about, not quite 2 years.

Can you tell me how things changed under the Russians?

Under the Russians wasn't... It's hard for me to really remember the life under the Russians, because in school where I used to go we had to start learning a new language, Russian. And it was, we used to stand in line to get bread during Russia. It wasn't like either you bake your own bread or you go in a bakery and you buy bread. It was a poor life during Russian occupancy.

Was your father able to continue his work at this time?

He tried, he tried, but it wasn't easy, it wasn't easy.

And how about economically, was there food available?

That what I said, you know that we used to plant our own gardens to get some vegetables and to have some things but you could not go in free in a store and buy what you needed or what you wanted to buy during Russian occupancy. Because for everything you wanted to get and buy, it was a line, and sometimes you get to the line and it was sold already, you didn't get a product. So really it was a hard life, but it wasn't better under Hitler.

How were you treated by the Russian soldiers?

The Russian soldiers, they didn't bother, But there were some people, when they just came, and I don't know if some people were talking about them. They sent them to Siberia, especially people that were very rich. They sent them out to Siberia, the Russians, when they came to us. So maybe it was better, maybe they lived through the war, those people, you know, but it was a hard life, it was a very hard life during Russia.

Did it change your religious practices at all?

They didn't have time to change, really. They didn't have the time because they weren't by us so long. That they were able to get to we should their lifestyle. So it was such a short time and the change from Russia to the Germans when they came, that they started a war. They didn't have time to do anything to change when they occupied us, really.

Now getting back to when the Germans came in, the very first day there was fighting in the city?

They just tried to catch people to kill. Jews, nobody else but the Jewish people. That was their main goal or something you know, that they came to clean out the Jews from the town, and whom they caught, they killed.

How were they able to single out the Jews?

What do you mean to single out?

How were they able to identify the Jews?

They knew, there were helpers. They had helpers.

Did any of your Polish neighbors react differently at this time?

There were some people that they helped them out, the Germans, and because of that, they could find more Jews, yes.

You mentioned that you were in hiding.

Yes.

at an aunt's home

Yes

How long did you remain in hiding?

A couple days. A couple days when we used to hear the shooting. So we were afraid to come out naturally. So we were sitting there even extra time, that we didn't know what happened, if we can get out you know from that bunker or we should still stay there. There wasn't much food to eat. we had hunger. But after we heard that it got quiet, we didn't hear any shooting anymore, we tried to get out. And this is what we saw that, the terrible tragedies.

How many of you were in this bunker that you were in?

There was an aunt and uncle and three kids. I was with them, that's all.

And when you were able to get out, what was your first reaction to what you saw?

To look for my family. To see if I have somebody left from my family. We were going to, to try to find somebody. So my sister and my dad, which I met after that thing, I met them. But it was very hard.

Were you able to find out any information or find any other family?

No, we couldn't, we knew that they, somebody told us that they were caught and they were taken to that market, the rest of our family, and we knew that they got killed.

And can you describe what went on in your life at that point?

What did it? At that point, we kept on crying and crying and we couldn't do nothing about it and it didn't take too long that they got us to the ghetto. After the first the first thing, incursion, what do you call it? The killing, you know.

The action

Yes. So we didn't stay too long in the homes, we were afraid to go to the homes. We stayed with an aunt and uncle and then they said everybody has to go into the ghetto. Whoever remained alive, and we went to the ghetto and we were there a couple weeks and another... What is the word that?

Action.

Yes, came again. They used to put in three, four, five families in a house in the ghetto, and then we find out that they are coming again to kill us.

How large was the ghetto?

In one street. One street, that's all.

Was it closed off?

Yes, yes, with wiring. Yes, people shouldn't run away you know.

Was this ghetto located a long distance from where your original home was?

It was farther, it was farther from our home, yes. And who were you with in the ghetto? I was with my father and my sister and then we had people that we knew, you know, you know in a small town, you know, people and they put us in that house. And as I said, it didn't take too long, a couple weeks and they came again to just to clear out everybody, to get rid of us. So we were hiding there again in this house where we stayed. There was in a bedroom, I remember they made a bunker, a hall, whatever you call it, you know. We got in in there and and we covered up, somebody covered up that place, there was a door to go in in there and somebody came in and said, we'll put on potatoes on top But you have to be very quiet there. That they shouldn't hear any voices or anything otherwise they'll come and they'll take you out and they'll kill you again. So we were very quiet, it took also a few days. And they killed all the most of the people there from the ghetto.

Were they taking just families to kill or were they taking men only or women only?

Everybody, when they came to kill, there was no difference between a child, a man, a woman, or anybody. They just, they were just killing, that's all.

When you were hiding in this room with potatoes on top of you, who was hiding with you?

The people, some people were with us in that house, as many people we could get in there, it was so squeezed, you couldn't even breathe. Whoever got in in there, we were laying one on top of the other, you know, just to hide, to save our lives. And that what the people that they were in the house, not everybody could get in, some ran out you know to see another place where to hide. So whoever was lucky to get in there, to be hided and to stay alive after the killing, they, they remained alive.

You were still with your father-

And your sister at this time?

Yes

And how long did you remain hiding here?

During the second killing?

Yes.

That was also a few days. A few days, and then when you hear, there was no shooting because the Germans they used to walk by the houses and they used to talk. You know, so you used to hear that they are still there. So then, naturally, we were still hiding there, and after, it got quiet and they didn't, they stopped shooting and they, we didn't hear their voices. We got out from that hiding place.

Did you have any food at all while you were in hiding?

See, we had some food, like bread. So we knew that it's going to come before or later, that they are coming back to kill us. We used to dry up bread and we used to prepare some bottles of water we used to take inside there. Just, you know, just in case if we'll have enough to live through when it's going to finish. So that's what we had, we didn't have much, most of the time, we had to suffer hunger.

Do you remember what time of the year this was?

1942.

Was it wintertime or summertime?

It started before Pesach, before the Passover holiday, that was already springtime. And it finished in the summertime, that they killed everybody already. In June, I think, was the end of the people there.

At that point, did they close down the ghetto?

Yes, after they knew that nobody got left, there was no ghetto, there was no people.

Did they bring anyone into this ghetto from other communities, or was it just...

Not to our, not to our town, no. Just the people that they used to live there.

And were you still with your father and your sister at this time?

Yes, then it happened that we were lucky enough, and we ran away, and, we thought either we are going to live or die, it doesn't because staying there we would get killed anyway. So we took a chance, and we ran out one night, late at night. We crawled out under the wiring, and my father had a friend, a gentile. And we went to him, and he let us stay there in his barn on the attic. And we stayed there for a week, they gave us something to eat, and then, as I mentioned before, Thursdays we used to have a market in our hometown, and this man went to the market, and when he came back, he told us that nobody is left now. From the Jewish people, everybody is already killed and this was the end of it. He was afraid to keep us naturally, he was afraid for some neighbors that they shouldn't give us out.

Reel 2, interview with Mrs. Mindel Diamond. Mrs. Diamond, you said that this neighbor that was hiding you came back to tell you that there was no Jewish survivors.

Yes.

Can you tell me then what you did?

We had to go away from there. We had to go, we heard that in another small town, there are still a few Jewish people. We didn't have no other choice. We didn't have any place where to go. So we went from, like they say, from fire to water or from water to fire, you know how they have the expression. And from there, we got into the labor camp. We got to the labor camp.

Did you go to another city first?

Yes. We went to another little town, there were a few. And from there, we got to the labor camp.

What was the town that you went to?

Kurenitz.

Kurenitz.

Yeah, they called it Kurenitz, the name, and then . . .

Can you spell that for me?

I'll spell it the way I just pronounced it. K-U-R-E-N-I-T-Z.

Was it far from your town?

It was a kilometer, about twenty kilometer, I think.

And how did you get to this town?

Walking. We walked on our feet.

Did you do this at night?

Yes, only at night. During the day, it was impossible because we would get caught, and that was the end of it.

Were you still just with your father and sister?

And sister.

Just the three of you?

Yes, yes.

Did you have any idea what happened to any of the homes? For instance, the home that you lived in or the homes in the ghetto at this time?

People lived in our home. And some houses from the ghetto, you know, the partisan, when they were in the woods, they came and they burned up the town. Yes. So some of them were burned up, and some houses were still standing after the war.

Now, when you went to this second town, how long were you there?

Not too long. We got caught to take... They took us away to the labor camp.

Were there... Did you find any Jewish people when you got there?

All of them were Jewish people. They hadn't done anything in that town at that point. No, the people from that town a couple of weeks later, they got cleared out, too. I see. Yes, there was nobody left. They went from one town to the other to kill us out.

Who picked you up, then, to take you to the labor camp?

We... They told us that we have to go there. So we walked to that labor camp. And when we came there, there were... 30, 40 people were in that labor camp, and they used to do work for the Germans in the camp.

What's the name of this camp?

Knigenina.

And can you spell that for me?

K-N-I-G-E-N-I-again and N-A, Knigenina.

And was this very far from the town?

It was quite a few miles, yes. But everything was on foot, walking from one place to the other. No transportation for us.

Did you have any belongings with you at all at this time?

Nothing. Just what we wore. That's all.

And who forced you to go to this camp?

The Germans. And we came... When we came there, they put us right away to work. We used to work in the fields, picking tomatoes, potatoes. Something like this, you know, working with hay for cattle, you know. A different work they used to give us.

What kind of living conditions did you have while you were in this camp?

Just we had to sleep. It was one big place. And it was beds that you used to sleep on straw. And maybe you had a little blanket to cover, what they gave you, and that's by all.

Were you still with your father and your sister?

And my sister, yes.

Were you with other people at this time?

Yes, yes. People from other hometowns, from small towns.

Were you able to find any survivors from your hometown?

From our hometown, nobody was in that camp when we got there. But from other towns, small towns, Jewish people were there.

Were you fed very well while you were in this labor camp?

No, no. Very poor, very.

What was a typical day's food?

A little soup with a piece of bread.

And what were your working hours?

For a whole day. A whole day work.

Did you have any days off?

No, no. Not at all.

When you worked on these farms, were these farms that were owned by Polish people?

Yeah.

How were you treated by the Poles?

They didn't harm us when we used to work there. But we didn't get anything from from them. Because we were under the Germans, where they watched us. The Germans watched us when we used to go to work, when we used to come from work, you know. So you were constantly under guard.

And how were you treated by these Germans?

Well, they didn't, they didn't hit us when we used to go to work. They didn't . . . They just wanted us to work for them. But then, I don't remember exactly, we were there quite a few months. One German came to the young boys there, and he told them that the Germans are ready to come to kill you out tonight. Today will be the last day for you to stay in camp. We were also with wiring, you know, around the camp. And we had a few young boys, and they were really our leaders. And they said to us that tonight has to be the night that we have to get out from here. Otherwise, they'll come anytime they'll kill us. So what they did, they opened up a little bit underneath the wiring. And we also crawled out there from that camp. And we were walking in just - we didn't know where we were going. We had to cross a railroad station, and we didn't know if you will go through there. We had to go places that we have to be so quiet that you shouldn't hear nothing, no voices, no steps. You should really be so quiet. And we were lucky enough to go through there and get to the woods. We didn't know which woods we are going, because we weren't familiar with the places there. But we went, and there we met some people already hiding in the woods. And we got - and they took us in.

Were there very many of you?

No, not too many. No. And this was our luck to get out from the labor camp and to get in the right place that they were able – that we were lucky enough that they took us in, and we stayed with them. And this is how we started to live in the woods, in the forest.

Were these people in the forest? Were they Jewish people?

No. We had all kinds of people there. No, it wasn't all Jewish people, but also people that they were hiding, Russians, that they were afraid for their lives. So we got together, and we were there with them to – whatever they told us to do, we did, you know. And we had a little bit of food there to eat already. They used to go at night and get some bread and get potatoes. And this is how we established our new life in the forest.

What kind of living conditions did you have in the forest?

Very poor. There were bunkers made, and we didn't have too much clothes to wear. And so they built some bunkers for the women separate, for the men separate. And naturally, it was cold in the wintertime, and they used to make a fire, you know, to warm up from the woods – with wood, naturally. And, and this was our life there.

What was your job while you were in the forest?

I was working on the – I was a little girl. I was working on the kitchen to peel potatoes, you know, to help out just in the kitchen, to clean up, to peel potatoes there, to cook. So this was my job.

Did you have enough to eat while you were in the forest?

Well, as I said before, they used to go at night, the people, and they already had some guns, you know, to go to – with force to find something to eat by people. And they used to bring for the people to eat. Bread was potatoes. This is kind – the main important thing, they used to – if they were lucky enough to find some meat, as in some place they used to bring, so we used to cook it there. So this is how they start to establish the life in the woods.

How large was this group at this time?

It started very small, and then more and more people used to come to be – to be able to have a place where to stay. Where these – There were so many of them then they organized. Different, different groups, different commandeers, you know, that they used to have. They used to come from Russia, from places that they were able to - they just came to organize Partisans to fight- against and back against the Germans. So they used to have people to come there, but they also had to be very careful whom they took in, because there were some people, the spies, that they didn't trust them, and they had to, to see what kind of people they are. So they were very careful whom they are taking in, in those groups. For Jewish people, they weren't afraid, because they knew that the Jewish people are not going anywhere.

Did you, were you involved in any encounters that the partisans had with the Polish community?

I wasn't involved, no, no.

Were you ever forced to move from where you were?

We used to have blockades in the summertime. The Germans, they used to – they have spies that they used to find out for them places where the partisans are. And they used to tell them in which woods we used to be. And they used to make blockades in the summertime. And they used to have a blockade around the woods – I mean, the forest where we used to stay. And they used to come. They wanted to catch us and to kill us. They used to send airplanes, and they used to do some bombs there. And some people got killed also. And it depends where you were and how lucky you were to run away and to stay alive. We used to go in woods that you used to go in, in mud, til here, til half of your body. It was so much – what can I say? A lot of muddy places, you know, that you used to run in there, and you couldn't even take out your feet from there. But you were running. You didn't know where to run. Life is so precious that you'll do anything. People were eating. They had cows there. They used to bring to kill for meat, you know. So raw meat people used to eat, raw. And they used to eat grass from hunger. And it was just horrible. But just to be safe and to live through this.

How long were you in this wooded area?

A few, a couple years, yes. In that wooded area, we were a couple years. And as I mentioned before, they used to come every summer to have a blockade to find us and to kill us. And the last time when they had a blockade before the war ended in 1945, we had a terrible blockade. And a lot of airplanes were flying over our heads and throwing bombs. You know, in places. So we were hiding under a tree that the roots were out of the tree. And we were hiding under there that nobody could see us and we'll be safe from the bombs. And when the war ended and the airplanes were already gone and the shootings stopped, we didn't know that the war was ended. And we sat there for quite a few days afterwards. So then we were eating grass. And then when we heard it's quiet and we thought to ourselves we have to get out from here. We have to see what's going on. We met a man there walking, you know, and he said to us, oh, my God, you're still here? Did you know that the war ended? He said, the Germans are gone and you're still here. We told him, we said we didn't know anything about it because we were so everybody ran away in different places. We were separated from all the people, you know. Everybody find a place where to hide. And he said, oh, my goodness, you are free now. You can get out. The war ended and the Germans are gone. So we were so happy that we could get out from that place and we start walking to our little town around by the woods there. And we came to a family. We didn't know them. We just told them that we just remained alive after the war and they gave us something to eat. And then we had to go, we wanted to go back to our hometown. So we walked for weeks and weeks til we got, we walked to Minsk from that town. I don't remember the name, but I remember that we had to walk to Minsk if you heard the town. It's in Russia, in Russia. And we walked to that big town, Minsk. And we also got something to eat there. People were, they felt sorry for us. So they gave us a piece of bread, a little bit milk, you know. We stopped in some homes to ask for some food. And we walked for weeks til we got back to our hometown.

While you were in the woods, was your group known by any specific name?

Yes. Kirovsky Atrad. They used to call it. Kirovsky Atrad. That was the name where I used to be. Now, where Jack used to be, it was a very big group and very big fighters there.

Did your group have fighters.

Oh, yes.

as well as women and children?

Yes, yes. They had fighters and they had women and children they kept there also. They had families that, for instance, the husbands used to be fighting and they kept their families there.

How were they able to get arms for the partisans?

This is really a question that it was very hard to explain. They used to, they used to bring in from Russia someplace. They knew places where to get ammunition.

Were there a lot of Russians with your group?

There were Russians, yes. Yes.

And what was your father's function while you were in this wood?

To stand on patrol.

He used to go on patrols?

Yes, yes. To watch in the camp, you know, to be on patrol.

Were you near any larger cities in this wooded area?

I really don't know. It was a large wooded area, though. Oh, there were so many woods in there, up there in Russia. It was half Poland and half Russia where we used to be. But they had a lot of woods there and very deep. You used to go away in the woods. You wouldn't know how to get back.

Do you recall how long you were in this wooded area?

Well, we got there a couple of years. We were there. Summers and winters. Yes. Oh, yes. There wasn't any other place for us where to go.

Did you have any other clothing than what you had brought in with you?

They used to bring some from outside, you know. So if you were able to, it would fit you whatever you could get, you used to put on. But it was very limited.

So when you left Minsk and you were walking toward, to your home...

Yes, it was very far. And it took us days til we got there.

And again, you were with your father and your sister?

And my sister, yes.

And what did you find when you returned to your home?

What we find, our house was still there. And I couldn't find the grave of my mother, my sister, my relatives. We couldn't find the grave because it was... It was very big. It wasn't individual graves. It was 800 people in one grave. And also, you couldn't recognize because the grass was already grown there on top. So you really couldn't find it. There weren't any . . . there were a few Jewish people who came back, very few. But they also lived through the Holocaust. And afterwards, everybody was trying to leave. Nobody could stay there, so we . . .

What kind of reception did you get from the Polish neighbors?

From our neighbors, we got, had a lady that we gave her some things, you know, before we went away. So we didn't take it back from her. We told her, you can keep it, our next door neighbor. And she was very nice to us. She brought us some food to eat right away. And then we were able to get food by ourselves in our hometown. And we were trying to get out from there.

Were you under Russian occupation at that time?

Yes, yes, Russia. Yes.

About the home that you lived in.

Yeah.

Did you return to that home?

Yes.

How were you treated?

Nobody was there already. We told the people to leave us, give us back the house. And we lived there for not so long, but for a while. And then we left the house again.

Were your furnishings still in the home?

Nothing was left. No, we have to get some things. No, we didn't have anything left.

Who had taken the furnishings?

We don't know. It was very hard to find out.

How long did you remain in the town before you decided to move on?

Well, I don't remember even if you stayed there for a year. I don't remember. I don't think so. If we stayed there even a year, I don't remember. And we tried to, to go away. To . . . We went then to Poland. We had a possibility. We made some documents, and we wanted to immigrate, we told them. So we left. We went from our hometown that was from by Vilna, where we used to live. We went to Lodz, Szczecin a German town we went to. And we went to Lodz. And from Lodz, we immigrated to Berlin. And there was a lot of camps, but people were already getting together there to go other places to other countries. So we went like we were in Berlin. Not too long. And they sent us to Germany. There was already people where they were involved in taking those people from there to DP camps in Germany. And they established new camps for people in different towns. And so we got there. The camp, it was by Kassel, the town, the big town from in Germany. There was Lichtenau, where our DP camp was, by Kassel.

When you left your hometown and you went to Lodz, did you have any idea at that time of how extensive the killing of the Jews had been?

Oh, sure. Sure. Sure. Very. We knew that some towns were just, what do you? it was just nobody left in some towns. People that they tried to run away, they used to get caught on the way and get killed. So we knew that how extensive it was, the killing, and how many people lost lives.

How long were you in Lodz?

In Lodz, we weren't too long at all. Maybe a week, too. Something like it.

Where did you stay when you were in Lodz?

In a camp. They had a big place there, like it would be in a – in a – how would you say it? Like - it's not a barn, but it was like a sports place, you know. Something like it. I really don't remember, but it was a big place that all the people came in this place, and then they sent them different places.

Was this kind of a displaced persons camp?

Yes.

Was it mostly Jewish people?

Yes.

From all over the area?

Yes. From all over the areas. From all over.

When you were there, had you heard about the Lodz ghetto?

Yes. Yes.

Was this located anywhere near the ghetto?

I think so. I think it was where we stayed there for the short time. short time. I think so.

Was this area also under Russian administration?

Was it under Russia or Poland at the time? Because Lodz was in deep Poland before, so I really don't remember if it was under Russian or Poland. I don't know. I think it was Poland.

With your father, did you have any ideas of where you were going to go at this time when you were still in Lodz?

When we were in Lodz, we were – our goal, our desire was to go to America, because my father-in-law had two sisters here in Omaha, and we wanted to get in touch with them and to see if we could get to some family. And they had to make an affidavit for us, which they did, and they helped us to come to America.

Reel three interview with Mrs. Mindel Diamond. Mrs. Diamond, when you, when you were just coming out of the forest, you mentioned your husband earlier. How were you able to meet with your husband?

Well we came back to our hometown after the war. There I met him.

And he was also a survivor from this same area?

Yes. Yes. He was also in that labor camp. But when I was there, he wasn't there already. He was there before me. So I didn't see him during the whole time, during the war, until we came back to our hometown.

And you said you were in your hometown, what, just a week or so?

No. We were there quite a few months. Yes.

Did you marry at that time or when did you?

No. We immigrated from our hometown together because there weren't too many Jewish people, so we tried to be together. So we went to Lodz at the same time. We went to Berlin at the same time. And we came to that DP camp together. The DP camp where we came, it was just organizing. And there where we got married. The DP camp in 1965.

No, 19...

And what did I say? In 1946.

1946.

Yeah. Excuse me. I mixed up the time.

Were you with your husband or your husband-to-be while you were in Lodz?

We were together.

You were together.

Yeah, the families.

The group of people.

Yeah the group of people.

from your home had stayed together.

Yes.

I see.

We didn't have separate places. We were all together, people that we never saw in our lives. We saw there, you know. Then we came to, to the DP camp where they sent us. We came there and we had our wedding a little... not too long ago when we were in the DP camp. We invited the whole camp for our, to our wedding. I never knew the people. I never met them in my life. But we didn't have anybody else.

That was your family then?

Yeah. So we had our wedding there.

How did you go from Lodz to Germany?

We had to, we had to to hide to go through the border.

Into the American zone?

Yes. At night on trucks.

And who did the trucks belong to?

People. To private people that they had to be paid for. The people. And this is what they used to bring us over.

Who paid these people?

Who paid? We had a little money already during, after the war, you know. I don't know how we got it. But whatever we had, we had to give it away. And then when we came to the American zone, they used to give us already food to eat and clothing. They have to... they gave us. So that's how we started to live there.

When you were in the American zone in the DP camp...

Yes.

Were you trying to search for family at that time or you had already found out what had happened?

We found out. We knew we wouldn't find anybody. No. We didn't find anybody.

How long were you in this DP camp?

We left in 1949. We came there in 19... 1946 three years. We were there three years.

What did you do while you were in the camp?

Not much. There wasn't really much what to do in the camp. We used to have our room, you know, and clean up, go in places, traveling to another camp where we had some friends. We used to go there. And there was not much what to do there.

Can you tell me about your wedding?

What a wedding. We had a rabbi. Our wedding was outside, you know. The Chupah was outside. We had the people there from the camp. And we had a German bakery not far from the camp. So we went there and we baked a few cakes there, whatever. And Jack went in a place and he got some drinks. He brought for the wedding. I don't know where it was. And then we used to get some cans of fish, what we used to get on on the rations, you know. So we cooked it over and we made some fish. Whatever we could serve, that's what we had. Not much. It had to be a memorable time in your life, though. Yeah. What a wedding. But thank God it worked out all right. And we had music, too. There was a couple of people that they used to play, you know, music. And we invited them and they came and they played for us. It had to be a real celebration. Yeah.

How did you feel about the Germans when you were in Germany at this displaced persons camp?

I cannot. I can't tell you that we were so excited about being there. Because you cannot blame us. What kind of feelings we had. We cannot blame everybody that everybody was in the German army and they killed us. There was, there was nice people of them, too. But the bad are covering the good. You know how it is.

How were you treated by the Germans in the outside the camp?

Okay. Yes. They felt a terrible guilt. They really did. What their their country did to innocent people, killing people for no reason at all, for nothing. They really felt guilty.

How did you manage to come to the United States?

Well, as I said before, that our relatives, they send us affidavit papers, and they want us to come to America. They knew that this is all they had is one brother left. My father-in-law's family. And he had two sisters here. And they had children. And they wanted us to come here. And this is . . . It took us time to get here, but this is how we got here.

And you were able to come also with your sister and your father?

No, we didn't come together. No. My sister remained still in Germany in the camp. And she, she was married also in the camp a week before we did. My sister got married. And she stayed in Germany til she got her papers. My sister didn't come to Omaha. She came to New Haven, Connecticut, because my father had some relatives there. They had been living there maybe for 15 more years. So they are the one they sent papers for my sister and my father to come to America. So they stayed in New Haven. And I was living here in Omaha because of, of Jack's family here.

Did Jack have family in Omaha at that time?

Just the aunts and the uncles and their children. That was my father-in-law's side. That's why we stayed in Omaha.

And what kind of work have you done in Omaha since you've been here?

I was working for the... in the vitamin industries when I just got here. I was working for Joe Spivack for a while. And then I, I was expecting our first child. So I worked for a couple of years, and then I quit working. And I was raising my my child at home. And Jack was always working. And then I got a job after the children grow up a little. I was teaching Hebrew in at Beth Israel.

At the synagogue?

At the synagogue, yes. Part time. And that's that's what I did.

And how many children do you have, Mrs. Diamond?

Two. Two daughters.

And their names?

Leta and Florie.

And are they married?

Both married.

And do you have grandchildren?

Ten grandchildren.

Ten grandchildren.

Yes.

And where do they live?

In Munson, New York.

Do you see them often?

As much as we can. We get together for holidays. We get together for special occasions. We go to see them. Some of them come here once in a while. But we try to be close with them as much as we can. And we talk on the telephone. We support the telephone company.

Well, I'm certain that the tragedy that was your life has become a beautiful story today, hasn't it, with your children and your grandchildren?

I'm sure that they will really enjoy listening to the whole story when they'll get the taped video. That they'll really know exactly. Because I never discussed with the children to sit down like this and talk about my experience, what I went through, through the war, through the Holocaust. They know things, what we lived through some of that. But not exactly in order from day to day. So I'm sure that they will be very pleased that I gave you the whole story from the beginning til the end.

If you could give me, in a sentence, something that you would like to pass on to your children and grandchildren based upon your experiences through the Holocaust, what would that be?

They should never know about such experience in their lives, what I went through in my life. They should always be healthy, happy, and live in a nice country like America and be free. Not to be afraid about about their lives.

That's a very nice message. And I agree with your message.

Thank you.

I would like to thank you, Mrs. Diamond, on behalf of the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, for allowing us to come into your home.

It was my pleasure.

Thank you very much.

You're welcome.

Mrs. Diamond, can you tell me who is in this photograph?

This is our family.

And can you identify them for me?

Sure. From the left to the right?

Yes.

This is the older daughter of Florie and Shai, Tamar. Then is Daniella, their daughter. Then is Yonina, also their daughter. And Ari, their son. And those are the parents, the children of Florie and Shai. Then Jack is there.

Jack is your husband.

Yes, my husband, Jack. And then is our grandson, Yoni. And then is Ori and myself. And they are the children of Leta and Jerry. And then is also their daughters, Laviya and Eliana and Yaira and Aliza. And those are the daughters and all the children of Leta and Jerry.

It's a beautiful family.

Thank you.

Can you tell me who this is in this photograph?

This is our daughter, Florie, and her husband, Shai, their wedding picture.

Can you tell me about this photograph?

This is our daughter, Leta, and her husband, Jerry, at their wedding picture.

Can you tell me about this photograph?

Those are our grandchildren. And their parents is Florie and Shai. And the names is Daniella, Ari, Tamar, and Yonina.

Can you tell me about this photograph?

Those are our grandchildren. And their parents is Leta and Jerry. And the names is Laviya, Eliana, Yaira, Aliza, Ori, and Yoni.