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Show "i This is the first of three articles telling the story of Cato H. J Persico, of Bountiful, who spent 30 months in a German Prison . Camp for stealing food from the Nazis at the age of 12. Her true-life J story is being prepared for a full-length book, television series or 4 movie. : : By GARY R. BLODGETT J Clipper News Editor BOUNTIFUL -- It was 40 years ago, but Cato H. (Toni) I of Bountiful, can still vividly remember World War II--T tne 20 months she spent in a German Concentration Camp. J J0N' WAS n'y a child at the time, 12 going on 13, she says, A "e,n?he was hauled from her homeland of Holland and forced to J WinNordhausen Prison Camp in Eastern Germany. was brutally beaten and nearly starved to death, but man- Hl and f " Until Au8ust of 1945 when the U-S- Army arrived J ! ree(j her and hundreds of other children, including her : -year-old brother, Petie, and several friends she had made in camp. CATO'S STRUGGLE for survival began in 1943 when she was arrested by the Nazi as she and her brother attempted to steal food from a party they had attended for the Hitler Youth Group in their hometown of Amsterdam. For the next 20 months she lived in horror, in almost unbelievable unbeliev-able conditions. Separated from her brother at the prison camp, she was alone, scared and for the entire time near death from starvation. CATO RELATES how it all started midway through the war when her father and older brother were forced to fight for the Germans, leaving Cato and her brother to provide for themselves and their mother. Food, which consisted primarily of bread and potatoes, was strictly rationed -- allowing barely enough per family to survive. "WE WERE always hungry, even to the point of starving," remembers Cato. "After father left for the war, it didn't take Petie and I long to learn how to steal food either from our rich neighbors or from the Germans." And that's what got Cato and Petie into trouble. FOR SEVERAL months they had limited success stealing from the farms and scrounging through the garbage cans. They were so near starvation that it was tempting to them when offered by a couple of friends to attend a party for the Hitler Youth Group where "food and drink was plentiful." "We ate all we could and then stuffed food into our pockets to take home," she said. "It didn't seem like stealing because the food would just go to waste." BUT AS THEY walked outside, they spotted their two friends talking to the Nazi "SS" troops and pointing a finger at them. Seconds later, they were arrested and loaded into a van along with scores of other children and adults. CATO AND Petie had attended the party pretending to be "deaf and dumb" nephew and niece of the other girls. Neither could speak or understand German and had to someway avoid speaking at the party. They had not told their mother of the party, knowing she would not have let them go. Thus, when arrested by the Nazi there was no way of informing her of their whereabouts. For nearly two years their mother never knew of the fate of her children. CATO AND PETIE are loaded onto a flat-bottom boat with about 300 other children for a three-day trip to Germany. During this time, dysentary and typhoid break out, making the conditions condi-tions deplorable. "Children were dying every few minutes and in just three clays nearly 100 of the 300 children had died and their bodies tossed overboard," said Cato. ON THE BOAT she meets a Jewish girl about her own age, named Rosie, and they quickly became good friends and were able to suffer through the deplorable conditions. Shortly after arriving in Germany, and before being sent to the concentration camp, Cato is severely injured during an air raid when a piece of shrapnel rips into her leg, causing profuse bleeding. A GERMAN Doctor sees Cato and wants to help her, but Cato wants no help from the doctor and viciously attacks him. Next Week: Cato is loaded into a boxcar and shipped to Nor-dhausen Nor-dhausen Concentration Camp. She tells a few of the gruesome experiences before being "rescued" by the U.S. Army 20 months later. I - 'Mr"''- ' , 7, . v :, LOUISA PERSICO CATO H. PERSICO |