Paul F. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Paul F., who was born in Cluj, Romania, in 1929. Mr. F. describes his family; lack of antisemitism in Cluj; Hungarian occupation of Transylvania; changed attitudes and behavior toward Jews; his family's exemption from deportation because his father was a state physician; their subsequent transfer to an area near Bras?ov, then to Sighis?oara; ghetto conditions; and the brutality of Hungarian collaborators. He tells of transport to Birkenau; separation from his mother; then transport to Buchenwald. He describes camp conditions; work as a bricklayer; and transfer with his father and brother to Seitz. He describes his resentment against Germans; his positive reaction to Allied bombings; return to Buchenwald with his father and brother; daily life and organization; and his strategies for survival. He discusses separation from his father, who was later killed; transfer to Berga; camp conditions; marching out of the camp in March 1945; escape and aid received from local Czechs; and liberation by the Russian army. He tells of postwar conditions; travelling to seek his uncles; living in Arad with his uncle; and return to Cluj and reunion with his brother. He recalls moving to Munich in 1948; emigration to the United States in 1949; and adjustment problems. Mr. F. reflects upon survival; the incomprehensibility of his experiences; American inattention to the Holocaust; and his difficulties after the first videotaping.

5 videocassettes (3/4" u-matic)