Page 100 - Centrum Dialogu im. Marka Edelmana w Łodzi. Zofia Lubińska-Rosset - "Okruchy Pamięci".

own skin, as he was already a deserter, he went with us. We con-
tinued walking without any escort. On the way, people took frozen
potatoes from the mounds and ate them raw, drinking water from
nearby ponds. Despite feeling hungry, my Parents did not let me
eat these potatoes. And rightly so, because as it turned out, many
of these people developed severe stomach disorders with high fe-
ver. Such a meal could even result in death. Eventually we found
shelter in an abandoned shed in the middle of nowhere. Extremely
exhausted, we threw ourselves on the straw inside it, but we did
not get enough sleep because soon a fire exchange between the
German and Russian troops began, lasting all night.
st
At 4.00 am on May 1 , 1945 the Russians appeared - we were
free! To this day, I remember the smell of pea soup from the Soviet
field kitchen, but not the taste, because my Mom would not let me
eat it at that time. Many of those hungry, who had not been
stopped from eating, probably never returned home.

Epilogue

Shabby, exhausted and sick, but happy for being still alive, we
started back home. We went together with a former fellow pris-
oner, a nice young Ukrainian woman. She found a small cart some-
where, into which we deposited our meager belongings - a few
pieces of underwear and some food. Besides, we only had an alarm
clock on a stand and a small red stamp album with German postage
stamps. Dad carried the alarm clock, found in an abandoned
house, in the pocket of his newly ”acquired” jacket. It replaced the
wristwatch he had lost on the way to the camp. The stamp album,
which my Dad "took care of" as a keen philatelist since his child-
hood, caused a lot of trouble, but more about it in a moment.

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