Leon W. Holocaust testimony
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
- W., Leon, -- 1919-
Corporate Bodies
- Majdanek (Concentration camp)
- Buchenwald (Concentration camp)
- Skarżysko-Kamienna (Concentration camp)
- Schlieben (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Hiding.
- Refugee camps.
- Escapes.
- Death marches.
- Postwar experiences.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Mutual aid.
- Forests.
- Survivor-child relations.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Video tapes.
- Men.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Forced labor.
- Brothers.
- Brothers and sisters.
Places
- Stuttgart (Germany : Refugee camp)
- Zwola (Poland)
- Poland.
- Munich (Germany)
- Plzeň (Czech Republic)
- Prague (Czech Republic)
- Radom (Województwo Mazowieckie, Poland)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat