Degradation at Strasshof

Around noon we were also herded inside the Strasshof camp. We were pleased to at least get wood barracks to live in, and sleep in three-tiered wood plank beds, two persons on each. Our meager food ration included some bread and cooked food apportioned daily. We were able to supplement this for a short while by exchanging nice kerchiefs for a few small slices of dark bread with the Ukrainian girls who worked in the kitchen. For us, it was a real bargain! When the manager discovered this "black market" activity he stopped it immediately.

Walking around the courtyard, a bloodcurdling sight unfolded in front of me. Uncovered corpses were strewn about in and around open ditches. The already deep darkness which engulfed me intensified.

In turn, residents of each barrack took their belongings with them to take a shower and undergo a "procedure". This meant taking all clothes, including the last bit of clothing which covered our bodies, and presenting them by hand to a Ukrainian man. This man took care of disinfecting the clothes while the people strolled around naked inside a special building for a couple of hours. I could not believe that this unheard of, degrading description was true, but when I went to look, I saw with my own eyes that it was really happening. Naked women lined up and handed their packs to the hands of Ukrainian men.

At once I felt the pain of the dreadful shame. Oh, such torment, such a miserable spectacle. I just stood there scared stiff, and like a living dead walked to my place. Then a deafening scream woke me up from my lethargy. I looked in the direction of the hysterical bawling and saw a young woman trying to escape this degradation by choosing death. She was about to hang herself on the outer wall of the barrack building, both her parents lamenting and begging her not to punish them.

Sheer desperation encompassed me. As I stepped inside our barrack the multitude already had their packs on their backs and were starting on their way to the shower for disinfecting. My mother begged me to come with them. "No", I answered her, "I am just unable to go".

The place soon emptied completely, save for me. Still scared stiff in my dark desperation, I leaned against the wall. A young Ukrainian beast shortly appeared, yelling at me to come. "No, I am not going anywhere," I daringly answered. His expression grew angry as he lifted his hand and beat my back with his whip. My mind darkened, my soul deeply injured.

Unable to think, my two legs dragged me to the shower place, where I joined my mother. All of us women stood in line, naked, and handed over all our belongings to a Ukrainian man. Then the real torture began. We were herded from room to room and questioned about many different things, then underwent medical examinations. Then a young male shaved all our body hairs. Oh, how can the earth tolerate so many cruel deeds? Our senses were totally numbed by so many different shocking events. I could not comprehend anything and was paralyzed.

Afterwards we took showers, about fifty women together in one room where the stream of water from above started and stopped without our being able to control it. We were all photographed and received dark blue sheets to cover our bodies. Then we got our clothes back and got dressed.

© David Muskal, 2001