Eva Gerhardová

"It was right after the uprising, when the Germans actually occupied Slovakia, I would say, and then they woke us up at three in the morning. And it was the SA from Bratislava, or something like that, and they said to my father: 'Haar, I've been waiting for this for 5 years !' He was so happy that he could say it. And that's all dad told us, don't pack anything, get dressed, we won't be there for long, don't worry. So my brother, grandmother and I... It was five lines and on each side an SS man with a rifle, some of them were carrying mattresses and had suitcases on their heads and what do I know, and we had nothing, just hands in pockets and so on. And they led us through Panenská ulica towards a small station somewhere on Karaždičová and we walked and there was one such explosion, like a shot and all the SS men turned in the direction it came from and then a tram came at Suché Mýto and father got into it he jumped with the documents and everything. I saw him jump there, my brother saw him jump. Grandma didn't notice and she didn't want to go any further, she said: where is Maxi, I said in the back, my brother said in front. In Sereď, the grandmother started talking about Maxim again, so I explained to her what happened and I said to her: now you have to be quiet, because something could happen and don't worry, when he is there and has all the documents, he will come for us, don't worry. "

"The wagons opened, a wonderful yells began: 'Raus, raus!' Yes? Out. I knew how to jump down, but it was with my grandmother... about three of us helped her, and as soon as she landed on the ground, we were separated. Her there, me there. I saw my brother from another corner somewhere, but I just caught a glimpse of him. And then they led us to the so-called bathrooms, where they stripped us all, took everything from us, put us in men's underwear and said: shower, and someone said: Well, it could be gas. But it was a shower and Dr. Mengele arrived, who I didn't know existed before, and then when there were ladies who looked like they might be pregnant, he immediately tested them to see if they were or not, if they had milk, it was crazy. And then I went to where I left my things and there were no things there. Then they threw men's underpants, t-shirts and clogs at us. But before we went to the showers, they started shaving us, we didn't have a hair anywhere, completely shaved. There was scream. Always a scream, everyone screamed there, yes. And they led us to a barrack, where there were five of us in one, I don't remember anymore, There was only unplaned wood and they put us there to sleep. And then we had a welcome speech. One such old prisoner, I don't know how many years she had been there, told us that we didn't get to the sanatorium, that people are being destroyed here and that if we don't follow the rules, they will shoot us. Well, the next day they stopped and counted us, they kept counting us. And someone pushed me forward, because I was well fed, and one person came, she was a prisoner, she spoke Slovak, and so she asked me where I was from, and how old I was, and what I know, and I told her that I am 15. And her: 'No you're 18 - when they ask you, you're 18.' And that, I think, saved my life."

"The school I went to was at... in Živnodome and the first bombing, when it was at Apolka, some bombs went missing and fell on Vysoká. So I was immediately there. And my class teacher... I was going with girls from Malacky, Kúty, and I don't know where, and they brought the teacher eggs and things like that. And she had to go to the shelter with them. And she knew that I wouldn't go to the shelter. She also told me: 'Haarová, you're not afraid? Watch those eggs for me.' So I was in the classroom and the bombs were falling around me."