Leon W. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Leon W., who was born into a middle income family in ?o?dz?, Poland, in 1925. Mr. W. recalls his happy childhood, widespread denial in the wake of the outbreak of the war; and the formation of the ?o?dz? ghetto. He vividly describes conditions in the ghetto: forced labor, the harrowing effects of intense hunger, the deterioration of interpersonal relationships, selections, and infanticide. He tells of his arrest in May, 1944; his transfer to Cze?stochowa, where he worked in an airplane factory; his evacuation from that camp at the end of 1944 to Buchenwald and from there to work in a factory in nearby Sonneberg; the death march in April, 1945; and the joylessness of his liberation. Mr. W. also reflects on his sense that he now leads a double existence; his growing obsession with the past; his return to Poland to try to locate family; and his recurring dreams.
Extent and Medium
3 videocassettes (3/4" u-matic)
Conditions Governing Access
This testimony is open with permission.
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Copyright has been transferred to the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies. Use of this testimony requires permission of the Fortunoff Video Archive.
Rules and Conventions
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Process Info
compiled by Staff of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
People
- W., Leon, -- 1925-2013.
Corporate Bodies
- Częstochowa (Concentration camp)
- Buchenwald (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Bakers and bakeries.
- Forced labor.
- Jewish ghettos.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Video tapes.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Jews -- Poland -- Łódź.
- Men.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
Places
- Łódź (Poland)
- Poland.
- Łódź ghetto.
- Częstochowa (Poland)
- Sonneberg (Germany : Concentration camp)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- ftamc