David H. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of David H., who was born in Horodenka, Poland in 1921. He recalls pervasive antisemitism; a barber's apprenticeship in 1935; Soviet occupation in 1939; German invasion in 1941; fleeing to the Soviet Union with his family; working on a farm in Stavropol?; German invasion on August 3, 1942; their escape to Temnolesskaya; losing contact with his father and older brother; his mother's unsuccessful attempt to locate them; passing as non-Jews in Temnolesskaya, using false papers; hiding with his brother when they were mistaken for partisans; posing as Soviet army officers; living in a village founded by Polish immigrants; liberation in March 1943; examining his mother's and sisters' bodies in a mass grave in Temnolesskaya; and subsequent rage which he still harbors. Mr. H. describes returning to Stavropol? with his brother; reunion with his father and older brother; returning to Horodenka; marriage; living in Legnica; traveling to Germany in May 1946; living in a displaced persons camp; his son's birth; and emigration to the United States in 1949. He discusses the importance of sharing his experience and the reluctance of others to listen; his anger; and sharing his experiences with his children.
Extent and Medium
1 videocassette
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., David, -- 1921-
Subjects
- Postwar experiences.
- Hiding.
- Postwar effects.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Survivor-child relations.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities.
- Video tapes.
- Men.
- Family.
- Refugee camps.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Brothers.
- Mass killings.
- False papers.
- Antisemitism -- Prewar.
- Soviet occupation.
Places
- Horodenka (Ukraine)
- Poland.
- Temnolesskaya (Russia)
- Stavropolʹ (Stavropolʹskiī kraī, Russia)
- Legnica (Poland)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat