The Holocaust of Carpatho-Russian Jewry

David was born in Tarnava which had about 350 Jewish and 1800 non-Jewish families. Went to cheder at age 3. Life was hard and most Jews were extremely poor. The Jews worked mostly in agriculture, trade, as cobblers or tailors. At the age of 6 and a half all children had to go to a Czech public school. The Jews were religious Hassidim belonging to groups such as Satmar, Munkacs and Vizhnitz. The rabbi of Vizhnitz came once a year to bless his followers. He was non-Zionist. The rabbi of Munkacs cursed Zionists and discouraged Jews from buying entry certificates to Palestine. The rabbi of Tarnava was an enthusiastic Zionist. David's father was injured in World War I while serving in the Hungarian army. His leg was amputated and he received a decoration. When the Hungarians entered Czechoslovakia, they took 88 Jewish families by train to Kaminitz-Podolski. David fled from the train and walked home. There he was arrested by Hungarian police and ordered to show himself twice weekly at police headquarters in a nearby village. The Hungarian police there were violent and cruel. His neighbours returned to him 3 cows and some horses that his father had given them before his departure, and they treated him very well. David registered with the Hungarian labor force. He was placed under Hungarian supervision with Hungarian Jews from Budapest and Debrecen in order to build an airfield for the Germans near Sasregen. There was tension between the Hungarian Jews who were not used to work and the 50-60 Czech Jews who were used to hard labour. After two years, when the airfield was finished, they were led on foot from Romania in the direction of Austria, through woods, where they cut trees and received no food. ; Whoever could not walk was shot. They were placed in Mauthausen where they slept outdoors in harsh winter conditions. Some froze to death. After two weeks they had to walk to Gunsksirchen camp. There they got soup and 100 grams of bread per day. David and some others would spend hours reading Psalms. Most of them had siddurim. Many people starved to death, some died because they swapped their bread ration for cigarettes or water. When the camp was freed by the Americans, the inmates stormed the food store and some killed their fellow Jews in order to obtain food. The Americans distributed food and many inmates ate too much and died. David was one of a group of five inmates who stayed in camp till the next morning, eating very little. David was admitted to a hospital, established by the Americans employing German doctors and nurses. A Jew from one of the nearby villages transported him and some others to his home in Tarnava. But he had no friends or relatives left there. His father had written him a postcard from Kaminietz-Podolski advising him to go to Israel to an aunt. So he went to Budapest and contacted soldiers from the Jewish Brigade. ; After about 3 months, refugees were transferred to Italy where they were given forged papers. David "was from Albania and wanted to go back there to search for family". In Italy they had to jump from the train and get to Milano. David was assigned to a farm belonging to a Jew near Milano, where he worked for 3 months. From there they were taken by night to an Aliyah B ship containing 818 passengers. Conditions were hard, the passage lasted for two weeks. In Haifa the British sent them to Atlit camp. David thinks they were the last ship not to be deported to Cyprus. Representatives of the various political parties came recruit members. David went to Hapoel Hamizrachi and was sent, with 21 boys and girls, to Kfar Haroeh, where they worked mostly in the orange groves. Then his group was taken to the Negev to establish a new settlement, then called Sumara and now called Tekumah.