Julian M. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Julian M., who was born in Krako?w, Poland in 1924. He recalls antisemitism in Polish schools he attended, particularly gymnasium; his father's prewar death; disbelief that conditions in Germany would impact them; German invasion; increasing restrictions and persecution; fleeing with his family to Nowy Wis?nicz; his capture; a forced labor camp in Krako?w; transfer to the ghetto; learning all Jews in Nowy Wis?nicz had been liquidated including his family; and his aunt's and cousins' deportation (he lived with them). He describes factory work; obtaining chemicals for people who wished to commit suicide; evacuation of the Krako?w ghetto to P?aszow; building railroad tracks for Siemans; transfer to Pionki; working in a munitions factory; transfer to Auschwitz, then Gleiwitz; frequent beatings and hangings; the forced march to Gross Rosen, Bergen-Belsen and Buchenwald; assisting his friend who was killed; atrocities by Ilse Koch; and liberation by Americans in April 1945. He recounts recuperation in Davos, Switzerland; moving to Geneva; joining relatives in New York; illness from a spinal injury incurred during forced labor; and his postwar adjustment. He attributes his survival to luck and reflects on how unprepared the relief community was to help survivors adjust psychologically.
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. This testimony may not be used for commercial purposes without prior consent of donor until 2015.
Rules and Conventions
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Process Info
compiled by Staff of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
People
- M., Julian, -- 1924-
- Koch, Ilse, -- 1906-
Corporate Bodies
- Buchenwald (Concentration camp)
- Bergen-Belsen (Concentration camp)
- Płaszow (Concentration camp)
- Auschwitz (Concentration camp)
- Pionki (Concentration camp)
- Siemens Aktiengesellschaft.
Subjects
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Men.
- Forced labor.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Video tapes.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Death marches.
- Jewish councils.
- Postwar experiences.
- Antisemitism -- Prewar.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Children.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities.
- Jews -- Poland -- Kraków.
- Jewish ghettos.
- Mutual aid.
- Child survivors.
- Postwar effects.
Places
- Poland.
- Kraków (Poland)
- Nowy Wiśnicz (Poland)
- Gleiwitz (Poland : Concentration camp)
- Kraków ghetto.
- Geneva (Switzerland)
- Davos (Switzerland)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat