Testimony of Malka Gelbard, born in Ruscova, Romania, 1927, regarding her experiences in Sighet, Budapest, a death march and Bergen-Belsen

Testimony of Malka Gelbard, born in Ruscova, Romania, 1927, regarding her experiences in Sighet, Budapest, a death march and Bergen-Belsen Life in Sighet from 1932; traditional home; orphaned of her parents; good relations between the Romanians and the Jews. Hungarian occupation and loss of freedom, 1940; attempts by the Jews to cope with the changes; Jewish Communists hide in Sighet; persecution by the Hungarian regime of these emissaries and everyone in contact with them, late 1941; attempt by young people to escape; move to Budapest with her sister, 1943; air-raids, early 1944; concentration of the Jews and the capture of young Jews by various tricks; German occupation, September 1944; deportation to labor digging, October 1944; return to Budapest; murder of Jews by Germans; rumors regarding Kasztner’s activities; death march to Germany; suicides and despair during the march; travel to Bergen-Belsen by train under harsh conditions; illness, survival and keeping a sense of humanity. Preparations for aliya and travel en route to Eretz Israel; sets sail on the "Providence" ship, January 1947; marriage; tuberculosis illness.