Alex H. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Alex H., who was born in Strzemieszyce, near Be?dzin, Poland, in 1923. He describes the antisemitism he experienced as a schoolboy; the German occupation of his town and the formation of a ghetto there; and his work as a forced laborer while he lived in the ghetto. He speaks of his deportation in 1943 to the slave labor camp of Blechhammer, where he worked in an I.G. Farben factory, and recounts in detail how he "organized" to get a little extra bread for his brother and himself. He tells of the death march from Blechhammer in December, 1944, during which his brother was killed, and relates his experiences in the concentration and slave labor camps of Gross-Rosen, Buchenwald, and Langenstein. Mr. H's postwar emigration to the U.S. and his service in the U.S. Army during the Korean conflict are also discussed. Mr. H. is unusually frank in his description of the dehumanization which resulted from the treatment he was subjected to and wonders whether he was unique in reacting the way that he did. He speaks of the lasting psychological effects of his experiences and expresses the wish for a "living monument", a caring network of and for those who survived, so that they need never feel alone.
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
- H., Alex, -- 1923-1992.
Corporate Bodies
- Interessengemeinschaft Farbenindustrie Aktiengesellschaft.
- Langenstein (Concentration camp)
- Blechhammer E/3 (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Jewish ghettos.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Psychological aspects.
- Forced labor.
- Jews -- Poland -- Strzemieszyce Wielkie.
- Men.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Video tapes.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
Places
- Strzemieszyce ghetto.
- Blachownia Śląska (Poland)
- Halberstadt (Germany)
- Będzin (Poland)
- Strzemieszyce Wielkie (Poland)
- Poland.
Genre
- Oral histories. -- ftamc