Manek F. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 0952
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Manek F. who was born in Be?dzin, Poland in 1925. He recalls his family's move to Danzig; friendships with German children; exclusion when they joined the Hitler Youth; his bar mitzvah in the Great Synagogue; moving to ?o?dz?; not being able to attend school since he did not speak Polish; and the outbreak of war. Mr. F. relates their move to Warsaw; his father's smuggling food into the ghetto in partnership with well-connected Germans; his father's round-up in 1941; unsuccessful efforts of his German partner to have him released from transport to Treblinka; the Warsaw ghetto uprising; unsuccessful escape attempts through sewers; transport to Majdanek; using his fluency in German to ally himself with a guard who helped him in many ways; assisting his mother and sister; and transfer to Birkenau. He describes the Zigeunerlager (Gypsy Lager); arrivals of French transports; transfer to Jaworzno; being the only German speaker among the wholly Greek prisoner population, which afforded him privileged status; the death march toward Germany; escape and hiding; liberation by Russian troops; being drafted into the Russian army in January 1945; obtaining a pass to find his parents in Munich; contacting his aunt in the United States; emigration and being drafted into the U.S. army in 1949. Mr. F. reflects upon relations and behavior in the camps including various survival strategies.

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.

Rules and Conventions

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Process Info

  • compiled by Staff of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies

People

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Places

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.