02:49

Ruth Deutschmann

Benjamin Epp

Innsbruck

2008-08-21

1938

I still have to go back a bit, because of the Kristallnacht in 1938. We were - my father - it was night. Suddenly Ilse’s mother called and said: "Tony, please don’t open the door, there has been a raid here." Of course mother was nervous, already getting dressed. Me ... they didn’t want to upset me. Suddenly our door bell rang. We cringed - suddenly a deafening noise. They simply smashed the door with an axe, came in through the hole. And my father was in this little room, where he always used to smoke - Mother and I both didn’t tolerate smoke - He barged out, she towards him, and father was already on the floor. They kicked his face with their shoes he had a big wound and was bleeding too. And then ... one of the said - I came out with my bear ... out - "Little one, you go to bed." Then I said "Now I can’t sleep anymore." I was probably 10 years old then. - The next day you could see what had happened. We went up to my aunt, Aunt Julchen and there Uncle Rudolf - her husband - looked down from the kitchen balcony, and there was a car. ... Some got in, others got out. So, ... my mother said then "They must literally have held the door open for each other". Suddenly the secret state police arrived. They were in civilian clothes? "what happened here?" Then mother said "They must have held the door open for each other" and so on. And father ... had to get dressed, and then mother said something to him "Should I get you this or that?" He then said "Don’t obstruct me while I conduct my official duty!" Of course she didn’t say anything and then they marched off the Jews, all of them. I think -, many were not properly dressed yet and they thought the people would applaud - or what do I know - because they took them in an open car drove them away in an open car.