Szaja L. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Szaja L., who was born in Skalbmierz, Poland, a small town near Krako?w, in 1915. He discusses his prewar childhood and work experiences after the family's move to Krako?w in 1926; the wartime German raid and the round-up for forced labor in his neighborhood; the ghettoization of Krako?w; and his move back to Skalbmierz with his family. He describes the roundup of the Jews of Skalbmierz and the killing of the town's elderly; the experiences of his family in hiding; the entrance of his mother and sister into the Krako?w ghetto; and his own experiences in a nearby labor camp. He relates his transfer a year later to the ammunition factory of Skarz?ysko-Kamienna and an unsuccessful escape attempt by some of his fellow prisoners there. He describes his transport in June 1944 to Buchenwald, and, two weeks later, to an ammunition plant in Schlieben. He recalls his evacuation in April 1945, the twenty-day-long train journey, without food or water, to Terezi?n, where he was liberated; and his postwar discovery of the deaths of family members.
Extent and Medium
2 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
- L., Szaja, -- 1915-
Corporate Bodies
- Buchenwald (Concentration camp)
- SkarzĚysko-Kamienna (Concentration camp)
- Theresienstadt (Concentration camp)
- Schlieben (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Forced labor.
- Jewish ghettos.
- Jews -- Poland -- Warsaw.
- Video tapes.
- Men.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Holocaust survivors.
Places
- Poland.
- Skalbmierz (Poland)
- KrakoĚw (Poland)
- Warsaw ghetto.
Genre
- Oral histories. -- ftamc