Leon W. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 0268
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Leon W., who was born in Zwola, Poland in 1919. He recounts his father's bakery business; attending yeshiva until age thirteen; destruction of the town in the German invasion; living briefly with relatives in Radom; returning home; Germans killing Jews; escaping to a forest with his younger brother; working for a Polish engineer; returning home; deportation with his brother to Skarżysko-Kamienna in fall 1942; encountering his sister once and giving her bread; being sent to Majdanek to bring back clothing for the prisoners; deciding against escaping, fearing his brother would be killed in retribution; transfer with his brother to Buchenwald, then Schlieben; slave labor in a quarry, then an ammunition factory; obtaining extra food for his brother when he was sick, with assistance from a German prisoner; a death march in winter 1945; escaping with his brother and two others at the Czech border; assistance from a local farmer; liberation by Soviet troops; hospitalization; continuing help from the Czech farmer; traveling to Prague, Plzeň, then Munich; reunion with a sister and another brother; living in the Stuttgart displaced persons camp; and emigrating to the United States in 1947. Mr. W. notes sharing his story with his children.

Extent and Medium

1 videocassette

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. This testimony can only be used for educational purposes.

Rules and Conventions

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Process Info

  • compiled by Staff of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies

People

Corporate Bodies

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Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.