At the start, the train did not go in the direction of Germany, that is West. In fact, it started out in the direction of the Russian front, East. As the train rolled on, with soldiers escorting it, and before it reached the first processing camp, it had to stop many times in the dense forests because some partisans were attacking it. The German army had to fight their way through. During the second encounter with partisans of unknown affiliation, the doors were opened wide, probably let attackers know that the train is filled with native people, and not German soldiers. A few single men took advantage of the commotion and escaped from the train.

 

The people in the cars lost sense of direction and did not know which way they were headed or even in what part of the country they were at any moment. Many different guesses were made by many different persons, but in reality, no one really knew because they were traveling by night. By the daybreak, the train finally arrived at some camp – no one knew even the location of it. After a meager meal, the medical examination started. It was not much of an examination, and it was conducted in a very fast pace. Since all the people had disrobe and paraded in front of German officers, it became obvious to Kostek that this process was not for medical reasons but rather a search for Jews. He became even more convinced of it when he observed that fewer people were sent back to the trains then there were at the start. By the early afternoon The Starzewski family found themselves on the train again, and with the car doors only partially open, the journey continued.

 

Early in the morning, at daybreak, the train stopped. A German soldier stuck his head into the wagon screaming in a loud voice, “Aus steigen!” No one understood the meaning of these words at first. Then, following the soldier came someone with a translation: “Disembark! Everyone disembark! Go to the barracks!”

 

In the barracks the breakfast was waiting, a bowl o soup and two slices of bread. It was not much of a breakfast and there was not mush to the soup either.

 

After the meager meal, all people were put through a medical examination again. Everyone had to disrobe, and parade in front of a group of Germans. Instantly it became known the reason for it. They were looking once more for Jewish people. In fact, the so-called medical screening was repeated several times before the German border, and each time fewer of the immigrants remained. There were many retained after each search; so much so that the length of the train after became much shorter. Were all the retained Jewish or were there other reason for the screening? It became a puzzle.

 

What part of Poland all this took place no one knew and there was no one there to ask. It had to be along the eastern Polish border. However, later and at night the train picked up a very high speed and by morning all found themselves in Germany.

 

It was early in the morning when the train arrived in, what it looked like, a large place with many side railroad tracks – all arrivals seemed to be planned to be early in the morning. Slowly rolled farther away from the main line and into thickets of many other rows. Finally, it stopped, hidden far away from any buildings as well as people - buried among rows of cars. Kostek, was the only one standing in the doorway. The morning was promising to deliver a very beautiful day.

 

Suddenly the train started to move and the people in wagon came to life. The thoughts and conversation turned to food and rest rooms. The Germans knew the needs and pulled the train up next to some platform by a camp surrounded by a tall fence, offering there both food and washroom facilities. There, a small group of single persons and couples without children, were selected, instantly disinfected for lice, and were ordered to mount big trucks – evidently for a specific place of work. The remaining people were put back on the train and showed to be hidden among the countless boxcars, maybe out of the way of piercing eyes.

 

Eventually the train started on his way again. By then, most of the people were awake, and all decided to watch the scenery by opening doors on each side of the car. Women and children seated themselves closest to the open door, however some youth and men, to see anything at all, had to stand. Kostek was one of the youngsters that had to stand.

 

Now, finally they arrived at Neun Muenster. It was night and at that time the Allies were bombing the heck out of that city. To Kostek and some of the others, this event was frightful as well as interesting to watch. Searchlights sought the planes from the ground and artillery shells followed their paths, attempting to bring the planes down. Tracers from the artillery shells exploded almost like fireworks. Kostek, for one, had never seen fireworks, and found the whole thing quite exciting. The falling bombs mimicked a sunrise struggling to rise above the hill. Kostek found the sights quite wonderful. Another thought that made this display exciting to Kostek was the knowledge that the Americans were making strikes against the Germans.

 

In the darkness, everyone was ordered to move straight ahead in a certain direction until they met someone who would direct them further. The authorities turned off electricity preventing for anyone to turn lights on in fear of being bombed. We carried our meager belongings in the direction we'd been shown.

 

Since it was dark in the camp, the people were told they could sleep in the barracks, but without lights they couldn't find the entries. Many people crawled under the barracks and lay down. Others simply lay on the ground, on top of or covered by whatever they happened to have with them. Kostek crawled under the barracks and slept on the ground with nothing over or below him for warmth or comfort. He had been carrying a bundle, too, but left it with his parents, Antoni and Joanna.

 

Early in the morning they found beds in various barracks and staked out their territory. For the first time in a long time, they slept on beds. They were single size and had bare metal springs, but even so, they were more comfortable than the hard ground. Later they were shown where to find a mattress for each bed. Kostek's younger sisters slept together on one bed, being a little afraid to sleep alone, and unable to both fit in the bed with their mother Joanna.

 

From the first day, the soldiers processed the people, delousing and cutting off everyone's hair if they found lice. Kostek was rather proud of the fact that he had no lice and was allowed to keep his hair. Hardly anyone else had escaped having their heads shaved.

 

For some reason, the Starzewski family was the first to be processed. Their clothing as well as their bodies were deloused. The officials designated some families to leave camp during the day to help the local farmers harvest their crops. The Starzewski family spent a whole day picking up cut bundles of grain and stacking them in piles. The bundles were machine cut and tied with string, unlike the hand-cut bundles that they tied with straw in Poland. On that day, Kostek tasted German fried potatoes for the first time, along with skim milk.

 

The people who were processed were separated from the others to keep them from becoming reinfected. The Starzewski family was selected to board a large Army truck with tall sides and no cover. They were taken to a farm in a place called Alte Frade. There they stayed for the duration of the war. The farm was large, owned by the government, with a hired manager. There were more than a hundred Holsteins to be milked, and horses and tractors for field work. Kostek was assigned to the dairy

barn to care for the cows. He milked twice a day, early in the morning and early in the evening. Women were assigned to help with the milking, and Kostek milked twelve on his own.

 

Near the farm was a prison for disobedient German citizens, and five miles farther north was an ammunition factory, abutting the farm on one side. During some nights, large farm equipment would be driven to the fields to work under cover of darkness, safe from the American planes. For a while Kostek fed and milked cows. The 80-year-old manager became quite fond of him. He knew that Kostek would sit under the cows and drink milk from the bucket, but he overlooked it.

 

One day the SS showed up to inspect the dairy unannounced. Even the manager was surprised by their arrival. Kostek happened to be milking a cow near the doorway and picked up a bucket almost full of milk, putting his face in the foam to get a drink of milk. As he stopped drinking and lowered the bucket, he heard voices. Turning quickly, he saw two SS men scowling at him. They screamed, “You Polische schwein, you dare to wash your face in the milk that our children drink?!” They said nothing to the manager who witnessed the event, but from that time on he watched Kostek a little closer. He often

told the boy that he was one of his best workers and appreciated how much better his calves looked than any of the others. He was unaware that Kostek was stealing whole milk for his calves, while the other workers fed their calves the prescribed skim milk.

 

Near the barn were chickens. Once Kostek found some inside the barn and wondered how they got out of the chicken yard. Investigating, he found a hollowed-out area under the fence where the chickens were escaping. He dug the hole larger and covered it, letting more chickens in to the barn. He put chaff from the grain into several empty stalls to attract the chickens, who laid eggs there. This is how Kostek managed to get eggs for his family. He also scrounged potatoes from a nearby shed, filling his shirt and pockets with them and a few other vegetables to sneak into the barracks that they shared with another family. The other family most likely was stealing food also only from the fields, therefore paid no attention to the Starzewskis where they got their potatoes and vegetables.

 

There were other storage buildings on the farm, where the SS stored many of their belongings. German prisoners also came to the farm during the day to work. Either they or the two other boys who worked in the fields would break into the buildings and swipe useful articles, especially clothing. Kostek knew that people were stealing but had no idea who was stealing what.

 

Kostek was later sent to the fields to work. He was given charge of two horses. He enjoyed this work too, having always enjoyed being outdoors. His horses were always well-groomed and rested, and they attracted the attention of those workers who

mistreated their animals. The foremen noticed this too. It was while he was working in

the fields that Kostek saw planes flying very low. Attracted by this phenomenon, he would wave to the pilots, who were clearly visible. They in turn dipped their wings in greeting, and some of the Germans evidently noticed this and reported it.

 

His mother Joanna, father Antoni, and the girls (Helena and Teresa), were always working with the rest of the workers in the field. For Joanna the field work and the emotional condition brought on her illness. With time she became an invalid. Evidently in her mind she would see a disaster in the making. Her biggest concern was her son, Kostek. It became so bad that the Germans preferred she would stay home especially when there was little work. They also allowed the youngest girl, Teresa, leave work and check on her. Evidently someone, even among Germans at times, had a soft heart. However, some workers attributed the kind gesture for selfish motives. Joanna, when left alone, would seek out Germans in uniform and would kneel in front of them begging for mercy. According to them this was the reason she had to be controlled.

 

One day during the rape harvest, the foreman set up a threshing machine in the field and told Kostek to drive the tractor run by fumes from burning wood. This tractor was light and used more for hauling than for fieldwork. Rape threshing was a tricky operation, because the pods were touchy. Once they dried, a breeze or any motion forced them to open and the seeds would fall out. For this reason, rape was usually threshed right after the rain when it was humid.

 

Kostek's assignment was changed again. Now and then he would be taken from the

rabbit cages to work for the families of officials in their gardens or their basements. One day he was even called in from the garden for a real meal.

 

Early one morning Kostek was ordered to get on a waiting truck. There were many other men sitting on the floor. After a quick glance at every person there, he instantly deduced that he is being taken somewhere else. He spotted an empty place next to a big, equally sad looking person. “Do you know where we are going?” Kostek asked. “No! ” came a short answer. “Does anyone know where they are taking us?” There was no answer from anyone.

 

The camp they arrived at was a large one. There were many huge barracks, inside each were rows and rows of bunks constructed in the style of of the one in the police detention – one long bunk where prisoners were to sleep only on boards.  The very next day, they were organized into work groups. His group’s main job was to retrieve salvageable material from bombed buildings. Often this meant pulling huge beams out. First the workers had to uncover as much of the beam as possible. Then they had to pull, on command, as hard as possible. When the beam didn't move, the guards always reverted to brutal beating of the men. The biggest, and strongest-looking men were beaten the most.

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At the beginning the prisoners were beaten not only during the work but also during the marches. Later, the guards were ordered not to hit anyone during the travel so the observing public would not witness the act of brutality. For Kostek this decree became a saving grace and became his salvation.

 

While at work, he managed to avoid the beatings. Kostek didn't know why he was spared. He had learned how to cheat to stay alive. When the guards stood over them, brandishing the butts of their guns, he grunted loudly with the other men, but put no effort into the work. He knew that on the diet he was given, he couldn't do this difficult work and survive. So, he pretended to work hard, all the while saving his strength.

 

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Postscript:

 

The above was an excerpt from Konstanty's memoir. Konstanty (i.e. Kostek) was sent to a different camp after the one described above – a camp where life was even more difficult. By the time the camp was liberated by the British, he was very ill. As a result, he spent a long time in hospital. Once back to health, he went in search of his family. He found them in a Displaced Persons camp in Germany. His parents and sisters decided to emigrate to Canada, whereas Kostek chose to emigrate to the U.S.

 

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Copyright: Starzewski family

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