Eyewitness Testimony Jan Wrzolek

Mr. Jan Wrzolek reports the following: My deportation to Germany took place on October 3, 1944. In the transit camp in Pruszkow, I was treated like a slave. A German officer inspected me to see if I was strong and sent me on a transport to Germany. The means of transport was a freight train. Everyone sat on the floor, in filth, without food and water, without hygienic facilities. There were a total of 30 people in the wagon. After 15 hours, we arrived in Wroclaw/Breslau, where we traveled a few kilometers to the transit camp next to a sugar factory. Before entering the camp, we were thoroughly checked. I stayed in this camp for two days. The food was very poor. There was hardly any possibility to sleep. Later, we traveled by freight train to the transit camp near Berlin/Erkner; after a few days, I arrived at the transit camp in Erfurt. There was no possibility to leave or to interact with the civilian population. From the transit camp in Erfurt, I was transferred to Construction Camp II in Großeutersdorf near Kahla. It was late autumn, cold and damp. The barrack where I was supposed to live was not yet finished. It was also very cold inside the barrack. In one room, 20–30 people lived. The shoes and clothing were always very damp; there was no way to dry them. The latrine was relatively far away. There was no soap or detergent. Only cold water. Construction Camp II was five kilometers from the workplace. Every day I marched from the camp to the construction site at the company Hautzel & Kobecke (transit station for building materials). At 4:00 a.m., we were woken up by the camp guard. The guard whistled and struck the windows with a stick. The work column leader checked if everyone was up. Later, there was breakfast: coffee and bread. After breakfast, we marched to roll call and to work. The working hours were initially 10 hours, later also 11 hours. All day long, we loaded gravel, cement, etc., from the freight train into the narrow-gauge railway carts. The only wage that had value for us was the food ration card. I only received wooden shoes. I worked in my clothing, which soon became dirty and torn. The food supply was more than insufficient. All day I received: 375 grams of bread, 50 grams of fat, 1 liter of soup, and ½ liter of coffee. I was almost always hungry. The guards were Ukrainians; during work, we were guarded by members of the NSDAP.