David F. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of David F., who was born in Be?dzin, Poland in 1928. The youngest of five children, he recalls the town's large Jewish population; anti-Semitic violence; his father's death; attending school until the German invasion; the family's forced relocation into one room; and two brothers' deportations, then his to a nearby labor camp in 1942. He tells of transfer to Bismarkshu?tte, then Reigersfeld and Blechhammer; a forced march in December 1944 to Gross Rosen; a SS officer killing prisoners with his bare hands; transport to Buchenwald, then Langenstein; hiding among dead bodies to avoid the camp's evacuation; and liberation by American troops. Mr. F. recounts recuperation in Halberstadt; transfer to the Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp; reunion with a cousin; finding a brother (the only other surviving member in his family); and emigrating to the United States in 1947. He reflects upon his reluctance to discuss his experience but recently doing so with students, the dehumanization of Jews and his anger that no one helped.

1 videocassette