There was more snow than even we from the Schwarzwald had ever seen. We had warm clothes; so even as we stepped onto the platform of a small railway station called Kirotova, we knew nothing. When men in uniform came towards us with canes, we thought they were invalids from the war, greeting us. Within minutes, we knew better. They were SS who used the canes with all their strength to beat whoever got in their way. We had to march through miles of deep snow. I was with my parents, and my three brothers, who were fifteen, nine, and six, and when we saw our destination point — a large barren farm with huge empty barns — my father said, ‘From here we won’t leave alive.’ The place was called Jungfernhof, and it was to be my home for nearly three years.

From an interview by Mimi Schwartz with Sally Lemberger.