sent by Erika Wolf, born. 29. I. 1921 in Wroclaw, living in Prague I., Královodvorská 14., nationality: Jewish.

When the last transports of full Jews left Prague in July 1943, we 3 chaverim of the youth movement stayed behind. On the one hand, our task was to help with parcels and, on the other hand, to remain in written contact with the evacuees and with the movement abroad. The correspondence was handled by Heinz Prossnitz until his departure in October 1944, as he usually did by far the largest part of the work with uncomparable dedication and self-sacrifice. The main purpose of the correspondence was to carefully write to as many addresses in Switzerland as possible, to which parcels were sent from there. Soon after the transport’s departure, the previously unrestricted parcel traffic with Theresienstadt was lifted and the first registration stamps for 20 kg parcels arrived. Since the correct sender had to be listed, we were afraid that we could be punished because of the many things we bought unofficially. In addition, many stamps were sent to our addresses at the same time, so we had to look for people in T. to whose name they were allowed to send stamps. How could any of us have been explained having about 150 kg of food a month, when a Jew did not even have enough to eat on his own? But strangely, the Germans had no interest in such obvious transgressions. But after all, they did not need a reason to lock us up. Now the restriction on approval stamps applied only in the Protectorate, one could continue to send things freely from the Reich. So we looked for people in the Sudeten and in the Reich, to whom we sent ready-made packets to forward on. Also, Noemi, who did not have to wear a star, obtained an entry pass and even drove a few car boots full of parcels into the Sudeten.

In about January, 1944, the first news came from Birkenau - Auschwitz, also requesting parcels. Only food that was ready to eat was suitable, we mostly sent bread. Very few messages came through, and those that did were wildly contradictory, so we were always in the dark as to whether they got the parcels at all and what they got, which of course created a lot of problems. Today I believe that only a small part actually arrived. And then around May the first news about the gassings came via English radio, so again, we did even not know who was still alive. Then, no more news came from there. Around July information arrived from many sides that the postal service with Upper Silesia was longer working and so we stopped the shipments to Birkenau.

Now for something about our difficulties. First, there was the food supply. We had quite a few so-called smugglers who supplied us with food, but it was never enough. And if there was some flour somewhere, then there was no fat to be had, or jam. Once we were flooded with legumes and a month later there were none at all. So we always had to ask and beg from one smuggler to another, and we were put off until the next day, when once again there was still nothing there for some reason. And so most of our time was lost on errands. We couldn't take large quantities home either; our families were too afraid and not without cause. The gentlemen of the religious community were too afraid to let us use a room there. Often, therefore, we had to postpone parcels, and sometimes couldn’t send them at all, because we lacked the most necessary food to put in them.

The second crucial difficulty was the money supply, my special task. At the beginning, there was still money left over that our departing Chaverim had gotten from abroad. But when that ran out, the ordeal began for the remaining 3 Zionists. They still had Zionist money, but each one sent me to the next. Finally, the last reserves were with our Jewish elder and known Zionist, František Friedmann. A grubby financier, one had to use cunning to pull even a crown from his purse. It cost me many difficult and often unsuccessful attempts, for which I had employ all the diplomatic arts I could muster. I had to remind him and repeatedly awaken his empathy for the hungry, to convince him of the importance of the parcels, in order to extract K 3,000 from him if I was lucky. And even that was a success, because when the other two Zionists had asked him for money, they were immediately sent away with the assurance that he had absolutely nothing at present. But what K 3,000, - were worth, in the best case 2 times in 3 weeks, can be measured by the fact that 1 kg fat cost K 1500-, margarine from K 500- to K 1000-, and lately jam K 150, - , sugar K 300, - 1 kg. So we had to save and save, send inferior food and fewer parcels, and those that we did send were often very sad. We tried to get money in other ways, by selling books from the Zion. Library and KKL stamps, but those were all drops in the bucket. Money was our eternal problem and grief, because without it we could not always fully exploit the opportunity to help. We only sent this money to certain Machsan addresses at Theresienstadt, and in other places where there was no Machsan, to every Zionist who was in our directory.

One more difficulty, but thank God we got over it, was the danger of the whole affair at every turn. Jews’ bags would sometimes be searched. We carried forbidden foods on a daily basis, and usually in noticeably large quantities such as 20 kg of flour, a large bucket of jam, legumes. Negotiating in the shops, our whole relationship with the smugglers, was dangerous and it is our luck that none of them was ever caught. Then Jews were not allowed to send letters abroad or parcels to the Reich, could not enter the post office, were only allowed to shop from 3-5 pm and of course that was not always possible. We had to cover the star though even the starless ones who were packing the parcels with us, of course, were already known in the surrounding area and the various post offices, due to the large quantities that we sent regularly.

In August 1944 a camp for all the Jewish parts of mixed marriages from the Protectorate was established in Prague. Since I worked there, I also supplied them with food as best I could. The attitude of these so-called aryan clan Jews to Judaism was interesting. Of course, it was focused on assimilation, as far as they thought about it at all and especially with the women, it was already at a very advanced stage. The best proof of how lost they are to Judaism came at Christmas, which of course was celebrated. With fun by those with lighter natures and with tears about the separation from family, for the more serious ones. You could see that the deeper relationship to the holiday was missing - they could not really find the right form in which to celebrate - but you could see what an impact family and habits had had. And yet, when they came back from Theresienstadt, many of these women told me that they had connected this time and their experiences with the Jews. This is not an advantage for these people, as it means alienation from their own family, but that is how our typical Jewish destiny has left its mark even on the apostates.

Now to the parcel actions. In the autumn some news came from girls from Hamburg and from boys from Schwarzheide, to whom we could send things. There was also an action of the religious community, which sent large quantities of food and clothing to Schwarzheide, which was even approved by the Central Offices for Jewish Issues. Then the transports left from Theresienstadt and the Machsan parcels ceased almost completely. Unfortunately, it took away the last full Jews, who were previously indispensable to the religious community, including Heinz Prossnitz. With him, who died in the gas a few days later, we lost our main initiator, the best comrade, the most helpful and selfless man I have ever met in my life. On the day before Prossnitz’s departure, in the to-do surrounding the packages, two Swiss sent by the Geneva Hechaluz appeared with 20.000, - Dollars. But, in his excitement, Mr. Prossnitz did not know what to do with it and sent the money back. After his departure Noemi and I felt very sorry about that, because we needed it very much and so we wrote to Switzerland, of course camouflaged as family stories. 2 months later, a Czech appeared with 20,000 francs. Unfortunately, we did not have much opportunity to send parcels with the money, because one month later the postal traffic to the Reich was discontinued. That was the end of our work. But we already saw new uses for the money.

On February 4, the first Chaverah, who had escaped from the Russians when she changed camps, came to see me. Skin and bones, with short, louse-ridden hair stubble, sick feet and some rags, she passed herself off as a refugee German, was given some dresses by the German aid organization and had them sent to Prague. Since it was impossible for us to accommodate her, she returned to the train station the next day, recovered in a German hospital for six weeks and was then sent to a Czech village where she lived in her role until the end of the war. With her we got the first authentic news about Theresienstadt, the hells of Auschwitz, the so-called labour camp, the death marches on the run from the enemy. Then we became aware of how powerless we had been with our few parcels against this decisive will to exterminate. Only very, very few lives could be saved despite the goodwill of all those who helped us from abroad with money and parcels and from the Reich with parcel brokering. But maybe we were able to give people a little joy for the last time in their lives with them.

I would like to give approximate statistics to the best of my knowledge and belief. The numbers include our private parcels.

about 220 X 20 kg - parcels to Theresienstadt: 4,400 kg

6 months 60 parcels weekly of 2 kg: 3,120 kg Birkenau and Litzmannstadt

about 6 months about 16 parcels weekly á 2 kg: 830 kg to Theresienstadt via Germany

4 months Hamburg and Schwarzheide (also clothes): 600 kg

Total: 8,950 kg

Given the fact that we were only 3 people, who worked all day, and because of the shortages of money and food, the quantities are ridiculously small compared to what would have been necessary. But thank God we were not the only ones who tried to help, most of the Jews who stayed behind who weren’t sent away until the last few months and their non-Jewish spouses helped in their circle as much as they could. And as the Chaverim always wrote us, a parcel meant not just material help, but also spiritual. We felt that

in Prague, too, when a letter, once a packet and then the money came: We are not completely abandoned, not all of humanity hates us, but our people still live on in the rest of the world, they feel with us and will help us wherever they can. And much, much more help is needed until we are saved from our eternal Jewish destiny.

Podpis:

Erika Wolfová

Protokol přijal:

Berta Gerzonová

Podpis svědků:

Kratková

Za Dokumentační akci přijal:

9. IX. 1945

Scheck

Za archiv přijal:

Alex. Schmiedt