Zubanyuk Nadezhda Pavlovna

Interviewers: Olga (Ukraine), Valik (Ukraine), Szonja (Hungary)

Can you tell me anything about yourself and you family?

My name is Nadia Subanyuk, I was born at the 2nd of February 1926 in a small village Lisanyivici, which lays at the western part of Ukraine. Our family (which consisted of my parents, and my sister, Hana) lived in a farmer community. At 1933, as the Ukrainian holocaust started, my father left to Konstantinovka by foot to find a better job for himself.

Can you remember how the war started?

I can clearly remember the moment when I got to know that the war started: one Sunday we were walking in the village with a friend of mine, when a girl appeared from the backyard announcing the start of the war. At the evening we got the official information from the authorities too, and two weeks later Germans appeared in the village.

What happened after the Germans appeared?

As the Germans came we received some official messages to go to the train station, and also policemen visited to persuade us to go. We didn’t dare not to do so, as we feared that otherwise our house will be burnt. We could bring just the most necessary things with us: some bread, and clothes.

Do you remember anything from the way to the camp?

As we were collected, Germans took us to Daraznya station (that was the first time I saw a train station), and forced us to go into the wagons which’s door closed suddenly.

Our first stop was Peremysl, where we had a medical commission. It was so embarrassing for us as we were totally naked during the examination, and our hair was cut too.

After the examination we were put into wagons again and were taken to a Garman village, which name sounded like ‘Permasensck’ or such. Here some of us were chosen by the villagers to help them at their work, but the others, just like me were taken to a labor camp between Didengofen and Kunsik. Close to this camp laid a river called Masl.

Can you describe the living circumstances of the camp?

We were living around 12-14 people in one room of the simple wooden barrack. We had two-staired beds, expect from them there was just one simple heater in the middle of the room in case of cold weather.

What was given you to eat?

I must say that pigs in the camp were fed better than us. Our breakfast was only a cup of coffee, for lunch we got some cabbage or potato with water (I won’t call it soup), the potatoes were never peeled. Our dinner was around 300 g of dark and heavy bread with a really thin layer of margarine, some potatoes, and coffee.

What was your work exactly?

We worked in a kind of factory which prepared the wagons for the transportation; my job was in connection with preparing the wooden floor for the wagons. We had to work 12 hours every day, from 6 om to 6 o’clock in the evening on the weekdays, the weekends were free.

Did you get money for the job?

We got a few money for it as a payment (I don’t remember exactly how many marks), but we seldom had an opportunity to spend it.

Were there other nationalities in the camp too?

In the camp there were some Polish people kept too, but they had better living conditions as the Ukrainians or Russians did: they had better bed sheets, got better food, they had their own canteen and they were allowed to walk around the territory of the camp.

Were you allowed to leave the camp on the free days?

We were allowed to leave the camp at some of the Sundays in small groups. In these free days we visited the closest village, where mostly French people lived. Their attitude toward us was really nice; it even happened sometimes that they illegally gave us some bread during the work when we weren’t observed by Germans.

These Sundays were the only occasion when we could spend our money somehow; the boys mainly bought some beer for themselves, the girls preferred to buy some clothes which were offered in a really cheap price.

Did you try to escape?

No, as it would be really dangerous to leave the camp. I just had no place to go, so I didn’t even think of escaping.

How did the Germans treat you?

I don’t have a memory of being hit, or such, so I can’t say that they were cruel, but sometimes they were quite rude to us. I remember one moment when I was really tired at the factory and just wanted to have some rest, but a German soldier just came to me shouting loudly at my face: ‘Warum du shlafen?’ (‘Why do you sleep?’).

Once I bought a skirt in the village which exactly looked like as the polish bed sheets. I was asked by the Germans if I stole it, and was asked not to wear it, because the others may think that it’s stolen. They didn’t shout at me this time, so I can say that their behavior to us was completely different sometimes.

Did you have somebody at the camp that was familiar to you?

Yes, I met some of my friends I knew from my village. I especially remember one girl, but unfortunately she just disappeared after the war, nobody knows what happened to her.

Was there anything in the camp that you enjoyed?

Yes, sometimes we danced at the canteen of the Polish after dinner, I enjoyed these evenings very much. One time we made a stage in this canteen and acted out a really good Ukrainian comedy with a guy who dressed up as a girl in. It was so good that even Polish came to check the performance, and they enjoyed it.

Did you somehow manage to follow the news of the war?

At the camp there was a man called Emil who had a radio and could follow the news. He always informed us about everything; I even got to know from him when my native village was occupied by the Russians.

What happened when the war ended?

As the Germans got to know that Americans will arrive soon, nobody cared about the camp anymore. We escaped and tried to walk on the line of the river, but after a couple of days we started to starve as we had no food with ourselves. Germans collected us again and we were given some food.

As I didn’t want to stay in the camp anymore I went to the nearest village, and managed to find a French woman who needed some help with her two children. I spent around 2 or 3 weeks with them, when Germans came again and gathered the people to give them to soldiers. Our job was to work in the potato fields, and to dig trenches.

As the Germans feared of the arrival of the American army, decided to take us to deep Germany. That could be around March 1945. We were walking approximately 50km far which was really tiring because we had some wooden shoes on us. We were sleeping in school building on dry grass, it was really uncomfortable. Next day the Germans got the information that the Americans will arrive next day, so they decided to move away deeper to Germany.

So we started to walk again, but in a village the six of us decided to escape: 2 guys, 3 girls, and a German guy. We were just hiding in the straw for 3 days; the boys just went to the village sometimes to take some food for us.

As we got to know that the American army arrived, we went back to the school we slept before. We got some food there from Americans, and the next day we were taken to a former German military place where they collected the Russian and Ukrainian people. We spent there around 4-5 month.

Do you know what happened with the others with the camp?

I only heard some rumors on them as they kept on walking to deep Germany, but a bridge they tried to cross on was exploited with the all of them.

How did you finally get home?

After collecting all the Russians and Ukrainians from the region the Americans created some list of who belongs to which region, and according to that we were taken home by train. I arrived back to my village at August 1945.

Were there any changes in your village?

Basically not, as the old people were staying there during the war. There were some houses burnt (those ones who refused to go to the train station when the Germans asked them to), but besides this the village remained untouched.

How did you get to Konstantinovka?

My sister moved here, and I decided to join her. I worked here as a nurse in a kindergarten for 16 years, and then I continued to work as a nurse in the hospital. I gave a birth to a son, Svetaslav, and now I have some grandchildren too.

Nadezhda Pavlovna with volunteers: Valik and Szonja

Did you tell your story to your grandchildren?

Of course I did, and they listened carefully, but it is just a ‘fairy tale’ for them, they just can’t feel the weight of these memories.

I think the youth nowadays just doesn’t want to understand what we went threw, and they a kind of envy for that period of Ukraine as a member of the Soviet Union. But I’m glad that they just don’t have to experience all those cruelty that we did.