Frank Bright. Born in 1928, He grew up in Berlin (ladies with fashionable wavey hair by crimping irons in the hairdressers). Jewish. Dad worked at Berlin Stock exchange (arbitrageur) and he used telegrams. Dads friend brought Frank a very thick pocket watch that showed the moon and constellations. Went to school by double decker bus.
1938- moved to prague (berlin getting unbearable), stayed in a hostel and went to the library each day. Couldn’t go to german school as full of Nazis, couldn’t go to Czech school as couldn’t speak the language. Frank learnt a bit of Czech in Berlin from elderly Czech gentleman, who was also teaching the berlin police (they knew full well they were going to invade Czech). Dad born in Moravia (Czech), so got the wear a Czech flag on Lapel, to protect family. Life was hard as german speakers in Prague (munich crisis, where the Czechs felt that they were sold down the river + german speaking problems in Sudeten who were for Mr Hitler). Found a czech boy who didn’t speak German to teach Czexh- fluent in a few months. Dad involved in Jewish Authority, who were suddenly overrun with German speaking refugees. Dads bilingual and organisational ability- ended up leading department. (Uncle Fritz stayed in Berlin- forced labour, strenuous, he used up shoe leather, but he didn’t get shoes… apprehended by Gestapo, gassed on Arrival at Aushwitz).
Only 2 distant relatives in czech, one brought bread from the communal bread ovens, but they soon disappeared. Before Germans came, life wasn’t too difficult. Czech systems that had existed since 1918, and had always existed for hundreds of years under the Austrian rule, the Imperial Austrian-Hungarian rule. The idea of a republic was good. You had Slovakia attached to Bohemia which was agricultural. You had the Czech part which was industrial, so they complemented each other. The idea was very good except of course the Germans took over the industrial part and that helped them a lot, they made steel and had coal pits, and everything.
March 1939- Invasion of Prague. They were on motorcycles, BMWs with sidecars and the sidecar had a little machine gun. Germans already seized Sudeten and surrounded Bohemia- crocodiles open mouth and all they had to do was snap it shut. Why did we go to Czech? Could have gone to England. Restrictions- hand in instruments, radios and woollies… well organised depots full of peoples belongings (furniture, art, pianos). Everyone did as they were told. Children grew out of their clothes (slowly, as lacking in nutrition). Only shop in afternoon (by which time there was little left). School closed 1942- Frank became a gardener and his dad got him private tuition, until the Germans got wise to it. Pruning trees and growing tomatoes.
July 1943- Theresienstadt Ghetto (army barracks and houses) for 15 months. Franks family were one of the last to leave Prague (due to fathers job). Travelled on normal train with separate compartments. Rumour spread Sicily had been invaded. ‘we lived on rumours and some could be false’. Nazis had own government department in the middle of town, but organisation of transport, food distribution and healthcare was left to the Jewish authorities, the Elders. This was a terrible job because they had to find who to send to the east, without knowing what the east meant. The first half of a large number of transports were sent east, they were sent to extermination camps, and the survival rate was less than 1%. Overcrowded, more people had arrived than left. Come from Germany, Austria, Holland, Denmark. Bunk beds, open kitchens. Very hot. Met a boy called Charles Popper who taught Frank Trigonometry. Paul King played Mozart on the violon. ‘ he lived for his music, that’s important to realise what single mindedness is’. Paul survived Auschwitz and became the leader to Tokyo Philharmonic. Met at Paddington station (very noisy). Many talented people died. Medical front ok- for hay fever a thick needle was pushed up franks nose, bones cracked, water pushed through, id the job. On another occasion stayed in childrens hospital for 6 weeks for blood in urine, helping to justify existence of hospital by filling beds. Many children there with Czech Christian mothers and jewish fathers (people lost faith), which protected them from going on the transport, until the very end. Ghetto cleared sept 1944, 2000 people leaving per day. Got a job in bakery.
October 1944- Auschwitz transit camp. Sent there to work for a german film making propellers. Father dent a fortnight earlier- he disappeared. Mother and frank arrived in Auschwitz together, not that they knew what it was. Some people were chased out, there were dogs and whips and all sorts of things. For Frank, they tried another scheme. They said, ‘If anybody feels sick or old or can’t walk, we’ll take them on a lorry into camp’; people volunteered and went straight into the gas chamber. six abreast, women, girls and children in one column and men and boys next to them in parallel. The women went first and they were disposed of in every sense of the word, very quickly. There was a man at the end of what later became the ‘ramp’ (flat place to walk where you would be judged as you approached). If he pointed right (most of the time), gas chamber. Left- fit to work. ‘Now my mother was in the women’s group. I didn’t see her but she spied me, I was near the front and so was she and she came over to me shook my hand and went back. That wasn’t quite the last I saw of her, I saw her move down this ramp and I saw her being told to go to the right. When it was my turn, I didn’t notice anybody pointing a finger, I just followed where I’d seen her go but I was pulled back. Apparently he got fed up pointing one way and was pointing the other way and so that was my first, I’m not saying this was a bit of luck but it was a link in a chain that kept me going or allowed me to keep going.’ Frank stayed there for a week, until civilian came and chose him for work.
Friedland Labour camp- cattle trucks. ‘again we were terribly lucky’. The camp had held Italian prisoners, they switched sides, soldiers were captured and taken somewhere else, so frank took their place. Small camp. Franks job was the straighten the duralumin (copper and aluminium) castings. Didn’t produce many- rumour the Russians were coming. Germans fleeing past the camp. German foreman occasionally gave Frank crusts, saying they were meant for his rabbit, but frank would appreciate them more. 12 hour shift 7 days a week. People died of hunger. It felt like things were changing. Elderly german SS not fit for the role asked group to remember he treated them well and left, leaving control to the Ukranian SS who stood on the watch tower with a machine gun. Got someone walking past to switch off electric fences. Hid in the woods. Russians arrived. They didn’t really liberate Frank, the war ended and the Russians arrived.