Survivor Testimony #2 - Coy Draheim

Survivor Testimony 2
Coy Draheim
Alfred Caro’s story starts like many other stories for Jews in the 1930’s. He was born in what started as Sampter, Poland but would soon be under German rule and considered part of Germany. Born to a tight knit family of 6 kids, Alfred’s father was a butcher and his mother was a stay at home mom. Unlike most Jews, Alfred led a really good life growing up and never experienced much anti-Semitism. He lived a typical teenage life going to dances playing sports, his favorite being boxing, and going to school. As far as religion went their family was conservative and believed but really only celebrated on the major Jewish holidays. The good life would quickly change however for Alfred in 1933 as the Reistacht was burned by the Nazis and Hitler’s rise to power would begin. Alfred and his family like many Jewish families had no idea of how bad things would truly get. Shortly after Alfred’s father would lose his business and the Nuremberg laws would be instated. Caro would hear of things getting worse for Jews like them being arrested and beaten around this time but not too much attention was paid to it. Shortly after however in his home town Alfred would be arrested and sent to the Zachzenhausen work camp. “So I was perplexed,” is how Alfred would describe being snatched up and taken here. Like many others he felt he had done nothing wrong and was wondering why the Germans were forcing him here. His time in the camp would go from bad to worse quickly. Like many other German work camps starvation was rampant and Alfred would describe the living conditions as horrible. Alfred said that you might get a piece of bread a day with some water, you would sleep on the floor, and the bathrooms or lack thereof were unsanitary. The fence surrounding the camp was used as a boundary and any Jew getting close to it was shot on spot. Alfred would describe the German guards as trained murderers. “Who was friend, who was enemy,” is how Caro would talk about the people inside the camp. With Germans and Jews fighting for survival one would have to watch their back in the camp. Alfred unlike many Jews was lucky though and only in the camp for six weeks. He was released and quickly went to Belgium. Unfortunately for Alfred he had to leave his family and this would be the last time he would see many of them again. He was forced to France shortly after on the run from the Germans and eventually would end up in Columbia, South America where he found a job working for a gold company. Unlike some Alfred kept his conservative faith throughout his life and would attend synagogue during major holidays. He moved to N.Y. City and was married with kids. Sadly for Alfred though he would never receive any news from his family.