Pola M. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 0555
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Pola M., who was raised in S?iauliai, Lithuania. She recalls the rich, cultural Jewish life; attending Hebrew school; Soviet occupation; German invasion; anti-Jewish measures; learning of mass killings; her father's arrest and deportation (they never saw him again); ghettoization; forced labor at airfields, then in the Radvilis?kis and Baciunai labor camps; feelings of helplessness after a public hanging in June 1943, which the Jewish Council tried to prevent but had to carry out; transformation of the ghetto into a concentration camp in September; the "children's action" on November 5; and deportation with her family to Stutthof via Pavenciai in July 1944. Mrs. M. describes separation from her brother and grandmother (she never saw them again); transfer to several camps with her mother and two aunts; disappearance of German guards during a death march; returning to S?iauliai; fleeing to Germany after learning that her father and brother had not survived; and emigrating to the United States with her mother. Mrs. M. discusses the importance to her survival of being with her mother and aunts, and sharing these experiences with her children.

Extent and Medium

4 videocassettes

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

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Places

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.