Julius O. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Julius O., who was born in Kisva?rda, Hungary in 1920. Mr. O. relates his happy childhood in a family of seven children; his first experience with antisemitism through a Polish priest's speech in 1938, after which their lives changed; three months in a Hungarian labor battalion; deportation with his family; arrival at Birkenau on June 2, 1944; his and a brother's selection for a work group and his family's for gassing; transfer to Auschwitz after eight days; being tattooed; and the dehumanizing conditions. He describes being selected with other strong men and isolated in Barrack 9 with twenty-one others; the medical experiments performed on them to ascertain how much pain they could tolerate; transfer to Dachau; liberation by the Americans; return to Kisva?rda in the hope of finding his brother; learning of his brother's death; emigration to the United States to live with his one surviving sister; his marriage and family; and his continuing practice and belief in orthodox Judaism. Mr. O. discusses the importance of his religious beliefs and practices to his survival; his recent visit to Auschwitz; and never having discussed his experiences with his children. He also states that he never told anyone he was a subject for medical experiments, in order not to upset them, and he shows the scars he bears as a result of these experiments.

2 videocassettes (3/4" u-matic)