German (pronounced Gare – maan) was put in an orphanage at 5 yrs old. He has no memory of his parents. Their family lived in Kislavodsk, Caucasus. In 1937, at 6 yrs, they were all transferred to Groznik, Checkenya. Groznik was an oil producing city.

The Germans were 70 kilometers away and would come in, attack, and take the oil. Each time all the children put on gas masks and got into trenches outside. They spent every night in the trenches; constantly going in and out of the orphanage, in and out of the trenches.

In 1942, German finished his classes at the orphanage at the age of 12. His orphanage (about 107 children), plus five other orphanages (over 500 children) took them all to Siberia (Central City). After they left the city, the Germans occupied their orphanage. The children were aged 5 – 7. One group of older children, 12 yrs like German, were there to help all the others. It took them 42 days to get from Groznik to Siberia. They were in ships five days in Aszsher Bijon; Torkmeny by the Caspian Sea; stayed five days at each station to recuperate. One city where they stayed had no water. German and other 12 yr olds hiked 3 kilometers each day to haul water in wagons for everyone. They were all hungry the whole time.

The orphanages were all in one village. They had no electricity, running water – nothing. It was -40 degrees centigrade outside and about 12 degrees centigrade inside. There was a carpet on the floor and each one had a thin blanket. There were no beds so everyone lay on the floor in rows with their blanket to sleep. The bathroom was outside, no facilities. Each one had shoes, but if they got wet it took a very long time for them to dry. So, everyone went in bare feet in the snow for toilet needs. All of them had lice. When they needed to go outside in the dark, they had simple little sticks that they would light on the end – hard to light and keep them lit.

The 12 yr olds were the woodsmen. It was their responsibility to cut and split the wood. The wooded area was 6 – 7 kilometers away, so they wore their shoes, galoshes over the shoes and cotton socks on their hands to stay warm. There were a number of injuries since the size of axes and hatchets were not made for children. Some of them lost fingers, splinters in their faces and knocked out some teeth. German never had any problems and became proficient at cutting wood. He also helped bring water from the lake, hauling with the ox in the winter and carrying it in the summer. Also during the summer the older boys prepared the hay for the horses and cows as well as rooted for potatoes.

Five years after the war the children were sent to schools for skills, to collective farms and secondary schools. Having finished his 10 classes, German went to a technical school in Comsk, Siberia – from 1950 – 1955. Nobody helped him with the financial needs. Since he was an excellent student he got a scholarship equal to two years of wages. He studied chemistry and geology and worked on a plant. He also helped the chief engineer with the construction too.

Sometime after the war German discovered he had an aunt. She sent him to the city where his original orphanage was located, Mineral’niye Vodi (translated from Russian ‘Mineral Water’). There was a trench where 9,500 Jews were shot by the Germans and buried. He found a document in the archives there telling of his family being shot as well – his mother and siblings. He also found his father was in the Red Army and did not die there. Checking the documents, at the age of 26, he was finally able to find and meet his father for the first time. He also found out the same time his family were being shot in the north part of the city, his orphanage was escaping from the south part of the city.

German had a wife, son and daughter who is now in Tashkent, Afghanistan. They did not come with him to Israel. His aunt’s daughter is also still alive.