Agi Geva “Screw Sabotage” Story
Agi Geva was transported from Auschwitz to an aircraft manufacturing factory with her sister and mother in Calw, Germany. Prior to their arrival, they were required to complete a training camp in Rochlitz. Here, they learned to utilize the complex Revolver-Drehbank machine. Agi recalls being seated at a table and given a pencil to take notes.
This small action reunited her with the feeling of being human during a time of such cruel treatment. At the factory, they were forced to work shifts throughout the night, standing for 12 hours straight. As the Nazi guards kept a watchful eye on the workers, Agi and her family struggled to remain awake. Her mother was assigned to work at the station where oversized screws were filed down to the correct size using a large stone. Agi describes the first explosion that occurred when using the stone. Her mother had been so frightened that she fainted. The Nazi engineers explained that it was too time consuming to order another one. Therefore, her mother was forced to continue preforming with the impaired one.
After their work resumed, another explosion happened. Her mother fainted from the fear of getting hurt. Throughout the months that Agi and her family were at the factory in Calw, this scene repeated itself. The guards assumed it was because her mother did not understand her post’s instructions. Following their liberation, her mother explained these incidents were intentional. She believed that these “mini sabotages” would delay the delivery of necessitated materials to the Germans. Her efforts to delay the success of the Third Reich are a prime example of Jewish civil courage during the Holocaust.
Written by Emma Rieser