Claude Lanzmann: Self - Interviewer

Quotes 

• Self - Interviewer : So your father and your husband...

  Ada Lichtman : And my whole family. There were seven of us at home. I'm the only survivor. I lost them all.

• Ada Lichtman : We saw convoys arrive with children. The children brought pretty dolls with them. The Germans snatched them from the children's hands. Or when the children were already dead on arrival and got rid of the bodies. The SS, the Germans, brought us their dolls.

  Self - Interviewer : Were there many?

  Ada Lichtman : A huge amount. Of every kind. Pretty ones, big ones, broken ones. All kinds.

  Self - Interviewer : New ones too?

  Ada Lichtman : Brand-new ones too, spotless and prettily dressed. Others were dirty, like this one. They were always delighted and said, "Please, do this for us, so we can take them home with us when we go on leave." We took the dolls, cleaned them and washed them. Afterwards, we dressed the doll. We made various clothes for them. They were delighted to take those dolls with them.

  Self - Interviewer : The Germans took the dolls of Jewish children.

  Ada Lichtman : Yes, they took them as a treat for their own children.

• Ada Lichtman : From each convoy, they selected a handful of women. First, from different parts of Poland. At first, three were young girls.

  Self - Interviewer : Pretty?

  Ada Lichtman : Schoolgirls. They weren't necessarily pretty, but they were young. The girls who were really beautiful and elegant came from other places. They arrived with the convoys from Austria and Germany. They looked like movie stars. They were dressed differently. The Germans took them for their - for their personal service. They worked in the adjacent mess. They spent time with them. They danced with them. I saw all that.

• Ada's Husband : I arrived in May.

  Self - Interviewer : At the beginning.

  Ada's Husband : In '42.

  Self - Interviewer : Where from?

  Ada's Husband : From a small village near Lublin. A little town. With my family. Four brothers, my parents, wife and children. They were killed straight away. I knew what was going on. In my convoy, there were 5 or 6,000 people and they all perished. The men were separated from the women and children. My father pointed out to me a German who was looking for cobblers. My father said to me, "Go and see that German. Maybe you'll stay alive."

• Self - Interviewer : It's unbelievable, dressing dolls in a death camp.

  Ada Lichtman : But everything is unbelievable. It's unbelievable being in a death camp and suffering all that.

• Ada Lichtman : The Germans promised to let us stay in Mielec.

  Self - Interviewer : They promised?

  Ada Lichtman : Yes, they promised. We were very pleased, happy that we wouldn't be forced to leave again. The following morning, we heard shots and shouted orders, "Come out!" Meanwhile, they herded the Jews into the - how do you say "best knesset"?

  Self - Interviewer : Synagogue.

  Ada Lichtman : They herded them into the synagogue, set fire to it and burned them alive. People tried to get out.

  Self - Interviewer : You saw that?

  Ada Lichtman : Yes, I saw it all, yes. They tried to get out through the windows. The Germans opened fire on them. All the time...

  Self - Interviewer : What were you thinking at that moment? Do you remember?

  Ada Lichtman : I was thinking only one thing: How was I going to die?