Alan Z. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Alan Z., who was born in Ko?o, Poland, in 1921. He describes the outbreak of the war and the resulting anti-Jewish legislation; the beginnings of extermination in nearby Che?mno in 1941; his escape to the village of Warta; the liquidation of Ko?o; and his flight, with his uncle, to the ?o?dz? ghetto, where he had the privileged job of vegetable gardener and had contact with high ghetto officials, including H?ayim Rumkowski. Mr. Z. relates his transport to Cze?stochowa, where he worked in the HASAG labor camp; his sudden transfer to Buchenwald, and two weeks later, to nearby Dora, where he was put to work in a rocket factory. He speaks of punishments inflicted on prisoners for the sabotage of machinery; the evacuation to Bergen-Belsen; liberation; and the involuntary confinement of former prisoners which followed. He tells of being sent to displaced persons camps; his circuitous return trip to Poland; and the surprise with which he was greeted by his former neighbors. Mr. Z. also recalls meeting his wife in ?o?dz?; postwar pogroms; revenge against former SS guards; and efforts to impart his wartime experience to his children.
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
- Rumkowski, Mordecai Ḥayim.
- Z., Alan, -- 1921-
Corporate Bodies
- Hugo Schneider Aktiengesellschaft.
- Bergen-Belsen (Concentration camp)
- Buchenwald (Concentration camp)
- Dora (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Men.
- Video tapes.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Antisemitism -- Postwar.
- Survivor-child relations.
- Revenge.
- Sabotage.
- Jewish ghettos.
- Jews -- Poland -- Łódź.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities.
- Forced labor.
Places
- Częstochowa (Poland)
- Łódź (Poland)
- Chełmno (Województwo Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland)
- Warta (Poland)
- Poland.
- Koło (Konin, Poland)
- Łódź ghetto.
Genre
- Oral histories. -- ftamc