Alexander Ruziak was deported with his father from Slovakia to the Sachsenhausen camp and sent from there to Buchenwald. He and his father were separated when Alexander was sent to a labor camp where he worked in an armaments factory near Weimar, Germany.
Prior to liberation, the factory was bombed by the Allies. Alexander was marched back to Buchenwald and was reunited with his father who was alive but in poor health. Despite the danger, announcements having been made that any prisoner found outside his block would result in the death of all of the other prisoners in the block, Alexander managed to free his father from the hospital block and move him to his own by bribing the guards. He hid his father under a bunk for two days, saving him from the fate of the other hospital prisoners who were sent out on a death march.
In his testimony, Alexander describes the moment of liberation:
"The guards began to leave the watch towers. This was a sign to all of us, that Buchenwald had been cleared [of guards]. We waited until the first [Allied] tank arrived, broke through the camp's gates and our jubilation was almost enough to raise the tank in the air. Thus, the Americans entered the camp and freed us. We were filled with joy… the realization that it was all behind us… though of course I worried about my father because he was in very poor condition."
Regarding the days after his release, Alexander said:
"I didn't have anything to do. I was healthy and I had free time but what interested me? Surrounding Buchenwald were several army camps… and there were no German soldiers in them… this really was interesting. There was a carpentry shop there, and I met a Soviet ex-prisoner who was also a metalworker and he said to me, 'Come, Alex, let's do some carpentry' because we had nothing else to do and it would pass the time… This is a cigarette box that I made… I also found a rubber stamp with which I could stamp the name 'Buchenwald' and my prison number on the box."
When Alexander's father recovered a little, they made their way back to Bratislava where they were reunited with Alexander's mother who had also survived.
Yad Vashem Artifacts Collection
Courtesy of Alexander (Rosenberg) Ruziak, Netanya, Israel
