On the Catastrophe of the Thracian Jews in Yad Vashem Studies, Volume III

On the Catastrophe of the Thracian Jews, Recollection

Mrs Vasileva, a gentile nurse living in the Thracian port city of Lom in March 1943 witnessed and describes the deportation of Jews by train to Germany. She was unable to bear the suffering of the Jews in the crowded, stinking, unsanitary conditions in the railway coaches, who were begging for water and food. She herself dragged buckets of water to the train and at great danger to herself ignored the threats of the guards and wading though the filth and excrement began distributing water and also food brought by Gypsies. She even stood up to the commandants who wished to arrest her and she returned time and again to continue her humane efforts. She brought diapers for a newly born baby, medicines and warm food prepared by the local Jewish community. She persuaded some of the guards to allow deportees to use the latrines. She was a true heroine.