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Recorded with: Leo Herzog born: 7. 6. 1901 living: Brno, Bratislavská 7.

1. / Transport F on November 16, 1941.

2. / Direct travel to Minsk /Weissruthenia/

3. / The trip started with 1000 people and lasted 4 ½ days. We made our first stop in Prerau, where the local Jews gave us tea and various pastries. After an 8 hour stay, we continued on to Czenstochau. Here as well as in the following cities, Warsaw, Brest Litowsk and Baranowitschi, we were able to obtain drinking water for every wagon. The escort team /Schupo/ was quite nice and accommodating. During the trip, all cars were well heated and the mood was good. There were no serious illnesses on the way, and no accidents either.

4. / The arrival on November 20, 1941 at 10 o'clock in the morning was rather more unpleasant, as the Latvian SS was waiting for us and and led us into the ghetto at a rapid pace, which was where the lash was used for the first time, especially unfortunately targeting some elderly and sickly people. We experienced the first hand luggage losses. The ghetto was already run by people from Hamburg, who had made up the first transport to Minsk. In addition, there were also people from Frankfurt and the Rhineland, and later more people from Vienna and Berlin would arrive, as well as a transport from Bremen and Hamburg. After spending our first nights in the Hamburg and Rhineland district, we were assigned our own district. Almost all the buildings there were wooden, which we had to repair as only after a week before our arrival, a terrible pogrom against the Russian Jews has taken place there. Here we were presented with the first horror show of German culture. Apart from the destroyed furnishings, almost every house contained the bodies of people who had been beaten and shot dead, which had then been fed on by dogs, cats and rats. In the individual rooms, depending on size there were 6-8 or even 10 to a room; this action was carried out to almost general satisfaction. Furthermore, for many people, there was an unpleasant surprise in that their luggage did not arrive so they only owned whatever they had on their bodies. Unfortunately, this was the situation in which I found myself. But there were some courageous people who at least helped with laundry. Immediately in the first days of December there were jobs for craftsmen. Since we only received 200 gr. bread and a fatless soup each day in the camp, there was great demand for work and some people managed to get good jobs, which were characterized by good food. Also, those people had

the opportunity to exchange possessions for food. After 2 weeks, unfortunately, there were already some deaths, mostly old and sick people. Over time, more and more people became involved in ancillary work. Treatment at work was generally good, and those who wanted to trade jobs could do so without difficulty. Only later was the camp administration forced to force people into bad and heavy labour commandos.

5. / On June 23, 1942, the great catastrophe befell the part of the ghetto where Brno, Vienna and Berlin were housed. All inmates who were not at work were summoned for roll call and transported to the cemetery in gas vans to the cemetery. Subsequently, the houses were searched with dogs and those found hidden were "put down". This was described by some people who managed to survive the action in long-prepared hiding places. Unfortunately none of the witnesses returned to Brno. After this great disaster only about 120 people from Brno survived.

6. / In the ghetto, especially in winter, there was a camp disease consisting of fever and diarrhea, which many fell victim to. Accidents also killed some people.

7. / On September 1, 1943, all single men were taken to the SS labour camp in Minsk and transported to Lublin on the 14th. On the same day the ghetto was closed and also moved to the SS camp. Since that time I have not been able to learn anything about the fate of those who remained, even though I went on to be in thirteen camps and made every effort to get information from fellow inmates as well as soldiers and German civilians. Unfortunately, I was not successful.

8. / On arrival in Lublin, we were sorted according to our occupations at the camp near the train station and transported further. I arrived in Budzín, near Krassnig, with a group of circa 350 men, including 25 from Brno. Here we worked in the aircraft factory Heinkel where 12 hour workdays, partly bad treatment and very poor nutrition claimed many victims. I too was shot in February 1944 by a factory guard and had an injury on the right thigh, which caused me pain at times. Afterwards I came to the same company in Mielec near Krakau. In July 1943 we were moved to Vielička near Krakau in great haste. During this transport, there was one dead person and 5 seriously injured in my wagon by a trigger happy guard. But here we did not stay there long and drove on to Flossenbürg. From there I only had a single person from Brno with me in the concentration camp. Leitmeritz, where I had the opportunity to see my even more tortured brothers from the Theresienstadt Small Fortress albeit only from a distance. Despite all my efforts to be able to stay in the homeland! I still had to go to the Dachau concentration camp in October 1944, followed by Allach near Munich. Here I finally met some Czech

Jews, and I especially need to point out that the brothers Max and Edy Manheimer, from Nový Jičín, helped me a lot with food and other amenities, for which I owe them great thanks. On April 20, 1945, we were once again transported, fortunately this time by train to the Tyrol, because at the Staltach border station the Americans reached us and finally freed us. After almost 2 months in Landsberg a/Lech, where we G.s.D.s had the opportunity to satisfy our long-term hunger, I returned home on July 26, 1945. Here I had to experience to my great grief that I lost my beloved mother, as well as my sister with her two children.

7. / From 1000 people on the first transport from Brno, we 7 men have returned and 2 are apparently still in Germany.

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Dear Zeuge Bruno B 1Note 1: Surname unclear