<Begin Segment 27>

TI: So eventually where did you end up?

JY: We went all the way back to the front almost, to the main valley, a town called Hammelburg.

TI: And what was this camp like? Was it different?

JY: No, this was a well-established camp, apparently had been there for a long time, with company streets. There were some more recent barracks that were put up, but some of the buildings were there for a long, long time.

TI: And so does that mean the conditions were better or worse than that first camp?

JY: Oh, the first camp was sort of a makeshift camp, but this was well-established barracks from before. They looked like prewar kind of buildings.

TI: So was the food better at this one?

JY: [Laughs] Oh, no, just the buildings were. And had company streets that were paved and well-organized.

TI: And was it then primarily American soldiers there?

JY: No, there was... the one unit that we were, that abutted us was a Serbian unit that had been there for, since the Blitzkrieg started. The Yugoslavs, and they were well-organized, very fine officers. Intelligent, and they didn't look like amateur soldiers like the Americans. They looked like they had been through military training. In the evenings... they would go out to work every day, to do some laboring work on the farms and wherever. And when they came back to camp in the evenings, coming through the forest, they would usually be singing marching songs, Slavic marching songs, extremely, resounds through the forest and with high spirit. So even though they were there a long time, they looked like they were well-disciplined and taking advantage of their misfortunes to the best they could. And they were friendly to us because they would have access to more foods, occasionally they would share that with us.

[Interruption]

TI: But you had just talked about the Serbs in the prisoner of war camp, and how disciplined they are. I actually want to back up, too, there was an incident that happened actually in the first camp with the Russians, when I think this possibly might be during the holiday season, but the Americans actually received packages, individual packages from the Red Cross.

JY: The Russians?

TI: No, the Americans.

JY: No, no.

TI: Oh, I thought you guys received rations from...

JY: Oh, you mean in addition to our potatoes?

TI: Yes.

JY: No, this was, the Germans made an announcement that they were going to give us something for the holidays, special holiday rations.

TI: Oh, so the Germans...

JY: This was a German independent holiday greeting, so to speak.

TI: Okay.

JY: So they let us know a few days ahead.

TI: But you mentioned how the camps were segregated. You had the Russian camp and the rest of you.

JY: They were sort of barbed wire enclosures.

TI: But the Germans were only going to give it to one side?

JY: Yeah.

TI: And so the Americans received this, so why don't you explain what happened.

JY: Well, they made a somewhat demonstrative presentation because it was food we had only dreamed of before, being brought to us. I think there was bottles of beverages, too, and they come through our unit. Naturally it's the attraction of the day, everybody's looking from the other compound. And we received these, food from the Germans, somewhat stunned by their generosity or whatever they were, from their gifts. And the first thing was, our concern was, what are we gonna do about the Russians that are, saw this parade coming? And immediately there was a difference of opinion, and finally we said we better put it to a vote of whether we're going to share it with the Germans, with the Russians or not. And the vote was don't share. This might be our last chance to... this might be a survival gesture that might count in the long run, where they take advantage of this, it might be our lives against somebody else's. So the vote was not to share it with the Russians.

TI: And do you remember how close that vote was?

JY: No, I can't remember. And so that was, for me, that was quite a depressing kind of thing. And, of course, the Russians weren't getting it, so they knew what the outcome of our thinking was. And then a few weeks later is the Russian St. Nicholas Day, comparable to our Christmas Day. And everyone is aware that the Germans are going to bring it to the Russians, and we see them receiving the gifts. The very next day, a delegation of the Russian officers approach our compounds, sharing their gift that they obtained with us. And they came really as if they were coming to celebrate something special with us, because they cleaned themselves, their demeanor was, physical features, they had washed up, boots were shined as best they could. And so even though we were stunned, we accepted the gifts, though everyone knew, what reminder it meant of what we had done.

TI: Yeah, so how did you feel about that?

JY: Well, that's the way it was. We couldn't do anything about it.

TI: But was there almost a sense of shame or guilt?

JY: Oh, of course, for some. Others said that that the vote we had expressed what we had to do.

TI: So even under these most trying conditions, you would see these... and from people like, earlier, the Serbs and the Russians, these exact sort of humanity or kindness...

JY: Right, exactly.

TI: ...in the harshest conditions. Yeah, that's interesting.

<End Segment 27> - Copyright © 2005 Densho. All Rights Reserved.