Eyewitness Testimony K. I. Bogdanow

e Bogdanov, K. I., Questionnaire provided by the Belorussian Republican Fund "Mutual Understanding and Reconciliation." Bogdanov K. I. Bogdanov, K. [. (written with —a) I was born on March 22, 1929, in the village/settlement Glusha in the Mogilev region. On June 4, 1944, our settlement was surrounded by volunteers of the ROA and I was taken by a train from Bobruisk to Germany, arriving in Erfurt on June 6. I was placed in quarantine and then sent to the Freienorla camp near Kahla. I started working at the end of June. I do not know exactly which camp it was; I stayed there until the end of the war. The living conditions were just like in a camp. There was a stove for heating, and blankets were also provided. We did not receive any clothing from the Germans, only wooden shoes. The food in the camp was bad, and so was the food at work. The workday started normally; we were taken to work by the police, it was about 4 to 5 kilometers. There were no roll calls. The daily quota was set by the foreman — you go to the foreman, and he writes down what you have to do. Our foreman did his job and was not bad. We were not paid. I did no other work than this. We had no contact with our homeland or inmates of other camps. Everyone was treated equally. We had no contact with workers of other nationalities. There were no families and no guards in our camp. I have no idea if there were informers among the workers, maybe there were none, and I also know nothing specific about embezzlement. There were no murders or brutal physical acts in the camp itself. I know nothing about rules or "judges." There were no German workers in the camp; the administration treated us normally. We had no contact with the civilian population and there was no exchange. Civilians did not participate in punishments. Regarding help — the Germans were not connected with the workers. There were no escape attempts from the camp. In Orlamünde there was a hospital; I was there for a month and a doctor came once a week and treated a wound on my foot by hand — there were no ointments or medicines. There were also a field nurse and paramedics. There was also a barrack for particularly weak workers. When I was in the hospital in Orlamünde, I once opened the door and a policeman with a dog came in. He asked me to bring a bowl and gave me a bowl full of soup — it was so good that I cannot forget it. Regarding mortality, I know of two dead people but nothing more specific. I worked in Kahla for two days, but I do not know when exactly. We were 30 to 40 people and dug earth holes to bury the dead. They were simply thrown in (mass graves). They were already completely green and rotten and the lice were so big that I felt sick and fainted. The foreman shouted and chased me away and I was no longer assigned to work in Kahla. In the last days of the war, our camp was evacuated under arms. We were supposed to walk on foot under the threat of being shot — people ran away and saved themselves as best they could. We were on American territory, and the Americans sent us to the Soviet government in Wolkenhain, where we were in quarantine for 2 weeks. I was in very poor physical condition. I do not know if anyone from the camp staff was arrested. In October 1945 I returned home. There was hunger in my settlement. Later I worked at the MTS (tractor station). At home were my mother and my ten-year-old sister. I imagine how the factory looks today...