Zev H. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 0622
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Zev H., who was born in ?o?dz?, Poland, in 1924. In this vivid and detailed testimony, Mr. H. recalls his family's refusal to flee east with retreating Polish troops in 1939; moving to Kielce to escape restrictions in ?o?dz?; sexual molestation by volksdeutsche; forced labor in a quarry; brutal conditions; his mother, sister, and grandmother disappearing in the summer 1942 liquidation; digging mass graves; and an SS man killing an infant, which continues to haunt him. He describes incarceration in a factory; resistance in the ghetto; deportation to Auschwitz in 1944; physical and psychological trauma in Birkenau; transport to Jaworzno to mine coal; the camp commandant's rebuke of a guard who beat his brother; his father's rescue by a Pole after the camp's evacuation; transfer to Blechhammer, where he was briefly liberated; a forced march to Gross Rosen; and liberation by Soviet forces at Leitmeritz. He relates postwar depression and near suicide; working for Berih?ah in Hungary and Austria; marriage in Salzburg; incarceration on Cyprus; arrival in Israel in 1947; his and his wife's emotional problems; and deciding to tell his children about his Holocaust experience.

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

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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.