Maria was in a Russian slave labor camp for five years along with her husband. She was dragged away, leaving her two daughters to be raised by her parents. They left in January of 1945 and returned in October 1949. They were in Donbas-Becken. She and her husband were listed as living at 606. The recollections of a male survivor told of months long trip in cattle cars where the only thing they had to sit on were their suitcases or duffel bags. They had no water as they were going through the coldest part of Russia and the wells were all frozen, so they would put their hands out the little windows in the car and tried to grab the snow. Food was given them but only twice a day and it wasn't very fortifying. Many died on the trip. One day the fellow took off his shirt and held it out the window -- trying to freshen it a bit and was appalled to see that it was full of lice. The sun and wind made them drop off. Everyone in the car then tried to do the same. They were ashamed that they'd come to that point. She and her sister, Julianna, told me of the horrible life of living in the camp. They worked in the coal mines. The men would dig and the women would pile stones in pillars to keep the mine from collapsing. At night they would pile stones in their living quarters. Everyone was in one large building -- a storage building of some kind. They needed and wanted privacy so they would pile the stones to create walls. Each area was for two individuals.
I've heard from young Internet friend who lived in Semlak that Maria helped his mother with domestic chores in Semlak. They lived next door to one another. He described them as the most wonderful neighbors one could wish for.
Despite all her hardship, she was a sweet and generous woman who continued to live in a situation that so many of us could not tolerate.
I am lucky to have met this wonderful cousin. She was so very sweet. I can still feel the many kisses she gave me when we left Gross-Zimmern and can still see her waving from the top of the steps. How fragile life is.
This branch of the Bartolf family is known as "Holzschlag" -- roughly translated as wood cut.
