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Kasriel K. Eilender, M.D.

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THE BARBER OF GOERLITZ - A MEMOIR

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Chapter Seven

My father got 

the bright idea

to produce

bootleg soap.

Knowing how

surely saved

my life.

Finally, my turn came and I was brought into a barrack. It was not too big with a long table with four SS men whose guns were on the table in front of them. There was also a higher-ranking officer standing in this location. All of us carried a special ID card with a picture and on it was written Jude (Jew). When the officer who questioned me asked about my profession, I answered "soap maker."

As events developed later, this saved my life, thanks to God, as well as my father. He was not only a brilliant man in business, but he showed me how to be very resourceful and smart in adverse conditions.

 At the time when we had been together, my family, as well as others, were facing starvation. My father got a bright idea to produce bootleg soap.

 Naturally, this was very dangerous to the peasants and the people who profited from it. However, people risked their lives to produce soap at home, which was at that time a very precious and rare commodity. He was getting some fat from slaughtered cattle. This was not allowed and punishable by the death penalty. All the cattle had to be registered by the Germans, who not only secretly used cattle but also pigs and sold them on the black market. The Jews in the ghetto got some of the meat fat from the peasants. Father used to get some of the fat to produce soap.

 We carried this operation on during the night and sold it among inhabitants of the ghetto, as well as to some of the peasants whom we trusted. To make soap, one needs not only fat but also a chemical, sodium hydroxide. Of course, where do you get this product in Dereczyn in those days? My father remembered that somewhere in Slonim somebody stored this crucial product. The Jews had been confined. Traveling to Slonim, the mother ghetto, about 20 miles away, was like landing on the moon. Yet he risked his life. One of the German gendarmes of Dereczyn, an elderly individual, had a Jewish mistress (in violation of the Aryan purity law of Nuremberg 1935). She was a neighbor, a very nice person who got my father a travel permit. Thus the sodium hydroxide arrived. Naturally, the soap was not Palmolive. Sometimes we made some further deals. That was how we survived this very difficult period.

While I was being questioned, I noted behind me the commandant of this camp. He was a tall, heavyset Austrian with bluish, watery eyes who had the SS rank of Obersturnfuhrer, which is comparable to the rank of first lieutenant. He also was a major of the police in his country. During my incarceration, he was addressed as Oberst-Colonel. Possibly in the meantime he was promoted.

When he heard that I was a soapmaker, he said: "We may need him later" and ordered that I should join the selected group of skilled workers, which at the final count was about 60. The rest of the group of 403 prisoners originally brought from Slonim Ghetto had been subjected to hard labor by digging and cleaning debris in the front of the headquarters of the SS. They had been beaten, abused and starved.

Among the group of skilled workers were carpenters, tailors, shoemakers, mechanics, electricians, locksmiths, as well as one single watchmaker and the soapmaker. Following the registration and selection of workers according to their skills, a selected SS man led us to a large yard full of long iron rods.

The commandant came out and ordered that every prisoner should grab a rod and run with it. Naturally, if you have over 400 people running with rods, many get entangled, many fell, and at this point, they were beaten by SS guards. However it is interesting what kind of memory the commandant of the camp had. After a while, he said: "Tailor masters and shoemakers sit down," and finally I heard him say, "Soap Maker sit down." The rest of the workers continued to run until they were exhausted and bloodied.

Following the iron rod reception, we were taken to a large hall where we were stripped of our clothing and had all our hair shaven. Our vestments were put in the special steam sterilizer. The so-called device was composed of a barrel where you put in clothing and some hot steam that went through it. It did not seem to do anything for sterility, except when it came out it was half wet and smelling.

It was not clear to me how long this small camp was in existence. The inmates consisted of several groups. One group was young Russian prisoners of war from the first proletarian division from Moscow. They were inexperienced. Another group was composed of White Russians. They were suspected of being sympathizers of members of the underground army. The third group consisted of some Jews who had been skilled workers and citizens of the city of Mogilev. When we came, there were already shops where some prisoners worked and newcomers were able to join them and work in many of these shops.

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