Sofia Cernobriva

Interviewed by Tatiana (Moldova), Yan (Ukraine), René (Austria) in the living room of her home in Konstantinovka on April 5th, 2013. Text in square brackets serves as explanation and commentary added by the interviewers. An asterisk [*] denotes locations that could not be verified for sure.

Sofia Cernobriva was born on 1^st of June 1931 in the little village of Pokutiv, Kamena-Podoliskaia region. When aged 11 she was deported to Germany to serve 3 years as a forced worker. “We had to use worn clothes from Jewish people to produce blankets. We found gold teeth and watches inside of the clothes.”

Olga Gluhovo (88), Yan (19) from Kiew, Sofia Cernobriva
(82) and Tatiana (20) from Moldova (from left to right)

LIFE BEFORE THE WAR

How was your life before the Second World War? How were the conditions of your childhood?

My father worked in a mine in Gurcencov and had a good salary. I was raised by my grandfather and lived with him. I was very little and I had to help in the household. The taxes were very high, especially for people without children. We were very poor and lived in a small hut in very bad conditions owning a few old furniture. The clothes were given from one generation to the other. For eating we only had mamaliga [corn porridge] and borsch [vegetable soup]. My grandfather owned a cow and therefore we had some milk and cream. We only ate meat for a few holidays. My little sister, who is two years younger than me, was brought up by my mother. In the winter just before school started, my mother picked me up and I could stay with her for some months. My father always brought money for my mother. I only attended school for two years until the war began.

What did your parents think about communism?

My parents never talked with me about communism. I was too young so I had no opinion. The communists did not take our belongings or properties. But all churches were destroyed in the period before the war. When the Germans arrived they were reopened.

1944: Sofia Cernobriva as a forced
worker in Germany when aged 13

LIFE DURING THE WAR

What did media say about the approaching German army?

We had no newspaper or radio, I was only reading a children's book.

How did you find out there is war?

Some administrators from neighboring towns came to us and told us that war had started. Jewish people in our village began to cry.

How were your first feelings about war?

I was sitting on a stone fence and saw our army moving back. After that the Germans approached our village. Some ammunition was exploding with very loud whistling. It sounded like there were many flies around and I ran faster to my home waving my hand. I was so little and did not understand the situation what was happening.

Did you think about running away from home as other people did?

Where should I have gone? Only Jews, communists and partisans were running away because they were afraid of repressions. Ordinary people were not so afraid of war. The most important things for them were their homes where they lived, so they stayed.

How did the Germans treat the people?

The Germans behaved well, but it depended on each German. Some of them were good to us but others not. 7 kilometers from our village there were mass graves, many Jews were shot. There were a lot of mass graves but many people inside of them were still not dead. They were only shot in their legs or arms but still alive when new victims were falling down into the mass grave on top of them. Therefore it is called mass grave.

How were you forced to leave Soviet Union and go to Germany?

I was only 11 years old and the Germans had rules to take only people above 14 years. A notice from our village’s administration came to my grandparents and told them that they have to go to Germany for work. So I would have had anybody to take care of me. Therefore I was taken together with my grandparents. My grandfather thought that the Germans would send us home due to his old age, my grandmother’s sickness and my youth.

Did you think to run away?

When someone ran away and was caught he was beaten very strongly. Those people did not survive the end of the war and its victory. They had a lot of fear to run away...

Could you please tell us about the transport to Germany?

When we arrived at Krakow they sent us in a shower room and put some chemical lotion on us to disinfect us. They put our clothes into a pot to kill all the parasites and we had to go to a doctor where our health was checked before entering Germany. It was in Krakow when I ate for the very first time a small piece of chocolate which some Polish woman gave to me.

Sofia Cernobriva 

Where did you arrive in Germany?

We arrived in Reichersdorf [*] where we were chosen to work in different factories, farms and camps. Red-haired Elisa took us with her. It was a big farm with a two-storey building. Some other Ostarbeiter were there when we arrived. I had to sleep with my Granny in a small room on the floor. The mattress there was filled with hay. The boss of the farm gave us every day different work tasks. I usually had to peel potatoes together with my Granny or work in the household, for example washing the floor or the dishes. At 12 am we had lunch but I could make some little breaks during work. The food we got was not very bad. Usually we ate corn porridge, soup and a few times some meat.

What happened when someone got sick?

There was a Russian doctor in Kaliningrad who settled down in Germany after World War I and he came to our farm if anybody needed help.

Did you celebrate any holidays?

No, we did not have any holidays.

What do you especially remember about your life on the farm?

A long road with many orchard trees. We only could take fruits which were lying on the ground. However, picking fruits from the tree was not allowed to us. Once a boy picked plums from the tree and he got heavily punished.

Have you ever been beaten in Germany?

No, because I always listened, obeyed all rules and did my work perfectly. So I had no problems. I remember that I was afraid to use the toilet in the main building because it was so clean and very white. When friends of the family came to the farm I had to wash the dishes after the meals. All food they left on the plates I could eat afterwards. So that is why I had an almost normal life and enough food.

Do you remember if you had to wear an “OST” patch?

We only had to wear the “OST” patch when we went to the city. However, I did not put it so the Germans could not differentiate me from the others. Sometimes I took photos together with strangers who were working in the town. In the city lived a policeman and he knew all people and made checks.

My grandfather committed some mistakes at work and therefore the boss of the farm was not pleased with him, maybe because he was very old and could not work very well anymore. He sent my grandparents and me to a factory where stoves were produced. In this factory was an accountable named Ulbrich. He went with me and showed me where to take potatoes for food and the alimentary shop. It was my duty to take care of the shop. After that I had to work in the factory’s kitchen from 6 am to 6 pm which was my main duty. Furthermore, I needed to do whatever was told me. Ulbrich said that the shop assistant should give me some candies and chocolate. Germans told him, “she is Russian, so she does not need this”. He answered: “Do you really think that Russians do not want any sweets?” Ulbrich was a nice person. We were living in barracks and cooking for ourselves. This was in 1943.

Finally, also Ulbrich was not happy with the work my grandfather did and he sent us to Kaminiec [*]. There was a factory where pots for flowers were produced and conditions became worse. However, we did not spend a long time there because we had to go to a camp in Bautzen. This was a place where only old and handicapped people were sent. They gave us only one bowl of soup and one piece of bread once a day. You could also buy turnips, a kilogram cost 50 cents.

Furthermore, there was a commander who was very kind, he provided some of his own food to us. For example when he boiled potatoes he also gave me and some other girl a little bit. She was handicapped and even received crutches from him.

I asked the commander if he allowed me to live and work as a babysitter because my life would be better there. However, he told me that he has no rights to do so because I was not above 14 years old.

This men tried to do something good to us and sent us to a blanket factory where we would only have easy work to do. There it was not so bad. Worn clothes from Jewish people were used to produce blankets. After the clothes were torn apart they were washed. We found gold teeth and watches inside of the clothes. When we ate garlic people told us that we would smell like Jewish.

My grandmother got sick and she could not go to work and grandfather said the same but he was not ill. Again they sent us to Bautzen. I cried because I did not want to go back there. But they could not leave me alone.

When we came back the commander treated us very bad because he felt betrayed by us. However, we were lucky because one of the farmers needed people for work. They brought us in a white car and we lived there for three years until the war ended. In a small factory we prepared the pitch for asphalt. I had a monthly salary of only two Mark. With this money I bought some lemonade and we even spent some holidays. At New Year we received a Christmas tree. I had German girlfriends and with them we stole some chocolate from the elder.

One day something bad happened. Near the factory there was a railway station where prisoners had to work. One night they stole potatoes from us. I was near when this took place and the guards followed me with their dogs until they caught me. They thought that I was the thief. I was lucky because the factory’s boss explained the guards that it was him who sent me to the shop. If the boss had not saved me I do not know what would have had happened to me.

Olga Gluhovo (88), Yan (19) from Kiew, Tatiana (20) from

Moldova and Sofia Cernobriva (82) from left to right

LIFE AFTER THE WAR

When Germany lost the war and the fighting came near to our village we went away to take a car to Bohemia. In this moment it was the first time that I saw the war and death. We saw tanks passing and wounded people running away. Then we were found and got home. I had Czech documents and could have stayed in Bohemia. But I missed my mother and my sister very much, therefore we just returned home. There my grandfather was put into prison for five years. My mother had founded another family with new kids and did not accept me. She told me go away and construct my own life. [starts crying]

After that I lived with my grandmother but she died soon. I was 17 years old and was completely alone. I had a garden with 30 are and went to work on a Kolkhoz 350 days a year.

How did the neighbours and other people treat you when they found out that you were an “Ostarbeiter”?

The biggest part of our village’s people were in Germany. After we came back home the KGB interviewed all of us. We were not allowed to work in military factories producing goods for our army. [showing the massive distrust against Ostarbeiters after the war] 

Generally, anybody knew about my past in Germany, only some family members.