Peter C. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Peter C., who was born in Szolnok, Hungary in 1936. He speaks of his family background; anti-Jewish legislation and Hungarian antisemitism in the early 1940s; the ghettoization of the region's Jews; his father and grandfather leaving to serve in Hungarian compulsory labor battalions; air raids; overcrowding and savage treatment by the Hungarian police; and his deportation with his mother and other family members to a German factory in the Stadlau district of Vienna in the spring 1944. He describes living conditions in the camp; frequent air raids and bombings; transport to Strasshof in February/March 1945; and the gradual disappearance of German guards. He remembers narrowly escaping deportation to Theresienstadt due to the Allied bombing of the railroad tracks; the retreat of the German army and the arrival of the Soviet army; walking from Vienna to Bratislava with his mother; traveling by train to Budapest; his return to his hometown and reunion with his father. Mr. C. reflects upon the psychological impact of his experiences and their being the basis for all of his subsequent decisions. He relates the antisemitic behavior in Hungary after the war and his father's experiences during the war, including hiding in a Wallenberg "safe house" in Budapest.
Extent and Medium
3 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
- C., Peter, -- 1936-
- Wallenberg, Raoul, -- 1912-1947.
Corporate Bodies
- Strasshof (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Men.
- Video tapes.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Mothers and sons.
- Forced labor.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Jewish ghettos.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Jews -- Rescue.
- Holocaust, Jewish 1939-1945 -- Psychological aspects.
- Concentration camps -- Sociological aspects.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Antisemitism -- Postwar.
- Child survivors.
Places
- Bratislava (Slovakia)
- Budapest (Hungary)
- Stadlau (Vienna, Austria)
- Hungary.
- Szolnok (Hungary)
- Vienna (Austria)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat