William R. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of William R., who was born in Cze?stochowa, Poland, in 1918. He describes prewar Jewish life in his town; his happy childhood and young adulthood as part of a large, close-knit, religiously observant family; the German occupation and ghettoization of Cze?stochowa; his black market activities to obtain food for his starving family in the ghetto; the liquidation of the ghetto and the destruction of his family; his unsuccessful attempt to save his younger brother and the sense of guilt at his failure; and his experiences in numerous concentration camps. Mr. R. speaks of his liberation by American troops near Stuttgart; life in a displaced persons camp for three years after the war; and his emigration to the United States. He reflects on the responsibility of survivors to tell the world of the brutality of the Nazis toward the Jews; the inability of Jewish prisoners to help each other; the "miracles" to which he attributes his survival; and his wish for his children to be informed about the Holocaust and to carry on the Jewish tradition.
Extent and Medium
5 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
- R., William, -- 1929-1996.
Corporate Bodies
- Auschwitz (Concentration camp)
- Bliżyn (Concentration camp)
- Neckarelz (Concentration camp) LOC auth rec
- Sachsenhausen (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Video tapes.
- Men.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Forced labor.
- Jews -- Poland -- Częstochowa.
- Jewish ghettos.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Escapes.
- Hrubieszów (Poland : Concentration camp) DNL
Places
- Poland.
- Częstochowa (Poland)
- Częstochowa ghetto.
- Stuttgart (Germany)
- Neckargerach (Germany : Concentration camp) DNL
- Vaihingen an der Enz (Germany : Concentration camp)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- ftamc