Olga H. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Olga H. (called Esther by her family), who was born in Czechoslovakia in 1918, the youngest of nine children. She recalls her orthodox family life in Seredne; attending Catholic school; transfer with some of her family to Uz?h?horod in April 1944; transport to Auschwitz; a selection after which she never saw her family again; being told her family was "burning;" not recognizing herself after being shaved; a sustaining relationship with a friend from her town; aid from a friend when she could not stand at appell; and transfer to Gelsenkirchen. She recounts volunteering for kitchen duty; sharing extra food; an Allied airplane attack in which many women were killed; a German officer who saved her from punishment; bringing extra food to the hospital; transfer to Altenburg in early 1945; a forced march to Czechoslovakia; the guards' disappearance on May 11th; and confusion about where to go . She describes traveling through Czechoslovakia; living in Prague; traveling to Uz?h?gorod via Budapest; finding relatives and her boyfriend along the way; her marriage; adopting a niece and nephew; and joining two brothers who had come to the United States before the war.
Extent and Medium
1 videocassette (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
- H., Olga, -- 1918-
Corporate Bodies
- Altenburg (Concentration camp : Thuringia, Germany)
- Gelsenkirchen (Concentration camp)
- Auschwitz (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Friendship.
- Families.
- Brothers and sisters.
- Death marches.
- Women.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Forced labor.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Video tapes.
- Postwar experiences.
- Mutual aid.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Hungarian occupation.
Places
- Seredne (Ukraine)
- Budapest (Hungary)
- Prague (Czech Republic)
- Uzď¸ h︥horod (Ukraine)
- Czechoslovakia.
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat