We were There - The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation

We were taken to the center and were accused of always causing trouble. They stared shooting around us
with a machine gun. The women were screaming for mercy. I jumped into the river. That is how I was
saved.
The Swedish officers sent their men and they were told to try and save anyone who escapes. It was very
cold. The river was frozen. One man grabbed me and put me in an ambulance. We were taken to the
Swedish hospital on Tatra St. Once we arrived, the personnel refused to take us, so one of them stayed
with us and waited for the Russians 40 .
The Russians took us in. I was swollen, cold and beaten up. When I left the hospital, a Russian policeman
found me and asked if I was a Nazi. When I told him I was Jewish, and he asked me if I was a speculator.
He took me to work with other people to help build the bridges in Budapest that were bombed. I stayed
there for 2 days until a Russian soldier asked if I was Jewish. When I said yes he said, “I will show you a
way to escape, run and don’t look back”. So I did, just like Lot’s wife 41 .
40
According to Research Work on Budapest addresses related to Raoul Wallenberg by Hasse Nylén, there was a hospital located at
Tátra u.14-16.
41
Lot is a personage in the Old Testament who escapes with his family from the burning city of Sodom. His family is instructed not to
look back upon the destruction of the city, but his wife does not adhere to this warning and she is turned into a pillar of salt.
31