04:48

Ruth Deutschmann

Benjamin Epp

Innsbruck

2008-06-12

Sylvia Manning - Baumgartner

Nicole D´Incecco

1940

So: I got to know a woman who knew the driver of the camp in Bozen. Once a week he took a load a people from the camp to Innsbruck. I went to him and he said yes, he would take me with him illegally. As I wasn't part of the camp in Bozen I wasn't allowed. But he said he'd take me and Gitti, my child. I went to Bozen the day I got the note that he was leaving the next day. For weeks I had been preparing two boxes with all my belongings, and my bike, my bicycle; a tub with pots and pans and two kilos of potatoes. That's all I had. So I went to Bozen on the bus and deposited everything at the camp there. He let me sleep in his room with Gitti. He lived with his girlfriend ? he had two beds there. He and his girlfriend slept in one of them and we in the other one. In the morning the transfer by truck to Innsbruck was to take place. But nothing happened, nothing at all. Suddenly there was a voice speaking through a loud-speaker, saying: "No transport due to lack of petrol." What was I supposed to do in Bozen with all my stuff and my child? I went to my friend's and asked her if I could spend a few nights with her. I didn't want the driver to have to sleep at his girlfriend's. She agreed. It took eight days; that was almost too much for her? me and my child always at her place. What an adjustment for her. After eight days they told me: "Tomorrow there's a transport by train." That was frightening, to take the train ? with all my things ? on the train. "It is well organized. The train will take you to Brenner and there an Austrian train will be waiting to take you to Innsbruck." All right. We were put on the train, my belongings were put in the back. Then we rode up to the Brenner Pass, but there was no train waiting at the Brenner. We had to unload everything.I dropped a box and it opened and all my belongings fell onto the dirty platform. I stuffed them back in and pushed the lid closed. We had to walk down to Brennersee . The trains weren't allowed to run in that area of no-man's land. We got to Brennersee and organized a cart. There were some at the train station especially for that purpose. It was a hand cart and I put all my things on it. Then we went to the Brennersee and put everything down at the edge of a field and waited for a train to come. We waited and it was cold. There was a farm close by. I went to the farmer with a pack of cigarettes and asked him if he would nail my box shut because it wasn't closed properly. Yes, yes. He'd do it. He came over and nailed my box shut. Then he went home with his cigarettes. I rode down to Innsbruck. I knew that my Herbert, being a stateless person, could only spend two days at a time in Innsbruck. After that he had to go somewhere else, to Hall or any other place. He could only stay in a place for two days running. But I knew the address of the place he stayed, when he came to Innsbruck.