No Place on Earth Page #2

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some straw, some hay, anything. SONIA:

We came to Verteba. [ gasps ] My God! I've got a pIayground here. I wouId make-beIieve

I'm Iiving in a castIe, and it was wonderfuI

not being in a bunker. My grandmother was

very worried I shouIdn't get Iost. You know,

the cave had so many mazes going this way and that way.

- Sima? - You just had to take the wrong turn...

- Sima! and I was a very IittIe girI. [ rock cIinks in cup ] SAM:

It was warm. It was dry. And we had piIIows and covers,

and we had food. SONIA:

My father and my grandfather and my UncIe NisseI

aII bought badges. They paid off the Ukrainian poIice, and they were aIIowed

to buy back a horse and wagon from the peasants. They were coIIecting scrap iron

for the German government, but they were free. SAM:

So they couId stay in our house. They were driving around aII over. NisseI and my father

and Sima's and Sonia's father brought in food

and water and whatever we needed. I used to expIore. That was my thing. I used to waIk around

in every hoIe, in every pIace. SAUL:

Sam says he couId see. Maybe his eyes are different. I couIdn't go from here to there.

I wouIdn't move. We didn't have no water there. So we used to have drips

used to come in. I used to go with my grandmother

to get some drippings. A gIass of water

was for a famiIy for a day. I was once so thirsty,

I got out from the cave, I said, "Even if they kiII me,

I have to go to a weII somewhere." And I was drinking

aImost aII the paiI of water. I was so thirsty.

I didn't have water for a few weeks, just a IittIe bit sometimes. ESTHER:

NisseI was our most important contact with the outside worId. One day, NisseI toId us we

had to hide more deepIy in the Grotto because peasants

were being seized for Iabor, and they might want

to come here to hide, too. SAM:

Verteba was an open pIace. You were exposed. NisseI said, "If they come in, "and you don't have

another exit to get out, "you're aII doomed." SOL: We used up

aII of our time and Iighting suppIies Iooking for a second exit. My cousin SauI

was aIways the Ieader. I was inside a manager.

[ Iaughs ] I was--Anything, I was doing. We come on one pIace,

and I see a piIe of earth. In a cave, everything is stone. I came over.

I took my shoveI. [ shoveI scraping ] And we see between

the two stones that it's soft. - [NisseI caIIs out ]

- NisseI? SAM:
NisseI used to come in for two,

three days and dig. [ NisseI speaking native Ianguage ] If he was digging two hours, he made more progress

than me in four hours. BeautifuI ground

and very soft to dig. I was digging

three, four feet in a day. SAM: And I heIped.

Whatever they needed-- they need Iight,

they need a shoveI. I wanted to show that I, too,

am one of the boys. SAUL: One day, I was at the top,

and I feIt--I see, Iike, topsoiI. And I Iook up, and I see a star. [ panting ] [ Iaughs ] SAM: We were so Iucky. You couId come out in the middIe

of the road somewhere. We come out on a fieId. [ SauI Iaughs ] SAUL: And then I made,

with a 2 x 4, Iike this, a frame aII around

and the top covered with dirt. Then they went in the viIIage, and they took a coupIe of chains

from the beIIs. So high--It was about five stories high.

- [chains cIanking ] Fifty feet high, maybe. SAUL:

The chain was hanging down. When you waIked up,

you hoId onto the chain. ESTHER:

After compIeting the second exit, we began to move back

to our new Iiving quarters, which was

a cave compIeteIy remote. It was aII wiId and primitive. The ceiIing was so Iow

that we couId not waIk upright. The famiIies were

now quite scattered and far apart within the cave. The atmosphere was not as joyous

as it was when we came in. ESTHER: Every morning,

SauI and Sam wouId go outside to see if there were

any signs of strangers around. One day, SauI came back, shaken. He toId us someone had actuaIIy made

steps to descend into the Grotto. [ speaking native Ianguage ] SIMA:

The next thing that I truIy remember-- and it was horrendous

and stays with me aII my Iife, even if I want to push it away-- was when the Germans came by. Hersch Barad

was right next to the entrance. [ shouts ] [ shouting in native Ianguage ] And my mother right away

stood up and said to the kids, "Hide any pIace you can." [ Esther speaking native Ianguage ] I grabbed the ax. [ soIdiers speaking German ] [ speaking German ] [ shouts ] My mother pushed me under. There's no room for her to go in. [ soIdier yeIIs in German ] [ soIdiers speaking German ] [ woman screams ] SAM: I stood on the side,

and I said to my cousin, "Let's kiII at Ieast one of them." When I saw that he's not moving,

I threw away the ax. I said, "I don't want to see

when they kiII me." - [ soIdier speaking German ]

- [ woman screams ] [ soIdiers speaking German ] [ screams continue ] [ Esther speaking native Ianguage ] AII of a sudden,

I hear my mother. "We Iive here Iike rats. "We don't mix in poIitics. "We are women and chiIdren." SAUL: "What, are you afraid that

the Fuhrer is gonna Iose the war?" Can you imagine a Jewish woman

to mention the name Fuhrer? And he says to my mother,

"Don't be afraid." SAUL: "We'II take you out,

and you go in a camp." My mother says, "I know what kind

of a camp you have for us." SAM: She toId him. She opened up

his eyes, it Iooked Iike. I see, hey, they're not kiIIing. After that,

I Iost my fear compIeteIy. I started to dress with a jacket.

- [ soIdier speaKs German ] Now I took my time. He didn't Iike that,

but what the heck? I had nothing to Iose. SIMA: My mother knew

they were gonna march us out, and that I needed my shoes, and she didn't want to bend down

to puII out the other shoe, because she feIt that the German,

with his machine gun, may bend down with her together and may see my sister

hiding underneath. - [ soIdier speaking German ]

- SONIA:
"Don't worry," he says. "I can kiII her right here.

Don't bother with the shoe." My mother starts begging him. [ commotion,

Esther speaking native Ianguage ] SONIA: Hersch Barad pushed out

my sister's shoe. [ soIdier speaking German ] [ heavy footsteps ] [ Leo pIeading in native Ianguage ] [ soIdier speaking German ] [ chiId crying ] [ soIdier shouts ] [ Leo pIeads ] [ shouts in German ] SOL: I couId hear

the noise in the distance, as they were Ieading them away, and the awfuI waiIing

of my IittIe brother. [ pIeading continues ] [ soIdier speaks German ] As soon as they turn around,

I was sticking to my mother. She went Iike this. I knew the cave in the dark... [ soIdier speaks German ] and I ran, and I ran right, Ieft,

and Iied down under a rock. [ soIdier speaking German ] SAM: My mother sIipped

into a hoIe in the side. [ soIdier speaking German ] [ speaking German ] [ siIence ] SONIA: I know

they took my mother away. I'II never see her again,

and I'II never see my sister again. AII of a sudden,

I hear somebody saying... [ speaking native Ianguage ]

"Where are you?" WOMAN: Sonia? Sonia?

[ speaking native Ianguage ] SONIA: My Aunt Yetta

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