Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Adele Sandel - [n.d.]

Hiding Contraband

Anyway, but somehow we sneaked it. We had to deliver the radios. There was no television, of course, but my father had the nicest, the best radio they came on the market. We had this short wave radio which you listen to the, to the free uh, free world, you know, I don't what you call it--short wave. You know short wave radio?


So, we gave one in--a big one--and we kept a little one in secrecy. If I think back I don't know how my father dared to do that and all our friends came and they listened to that radio--to that little radio, you know? Like it was dark and we couldn't have the lights on. Don't ask. We just were sitting in the dark and listened to that radio.

If it was a short wave radio...


...that you had news from the free world or


...news from other places, didn't you get news from other parts of Europe where you could get clear news if they were murdering Jews or things like that? Didn't you get any of that kind of news?

Just wait! I, I am not coming to that part.


They didn't murder Jews yet. That was in 1940. That only started. We went through hell 'til they start. That was going on for about a year-and-a-half or two years. One night--that was, like, I'm telling you, it was terrible. You just hardly could live, but somehow we managed to do this, start listen to the radio, had a little more butter. We were hiding. We were stealing. We were lying. We were um, I can't explain, like--do you--did you ever see those uh, uprising whatever Warsaw ghetto?


They didn't have what to eat, but they survived because they somehow had some, you know, one brought, one stole, one gave, one exchanged, one--this is how we managed to live those...

From day to day.


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