Paula G. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Paula G., who was born in 1917. She recalls growing up in S?iauliai, Lithuania; her mother's dream foretelling her father's death; participating in Zionist youth groups; Soviet occupation; marriage in 1940; and the German invasion. Mrs. G. recounts her husband's arrest (she never saw him again); deteriorating conditions during her years in the Kovno ghetto; forced labor; frequent deportations including the children; working in an illegal bakery; deportation to Stutthof; her dream foretelling her mother's death; growing indifference to her fate; recovery from typhus with a friend's help; and liberation by Soviet troops. She describes antisemitism; reunion with her brother, who fled to Israel when accused of spying; fleeing to Poland; marriage; relocating to Berlin, Munich and Sweden; and emigrating to the United States in 1952. Throughout the testimony she emphasizes the pain of telling these "unbelievable" experiences; her constant recall of these memories; frequent nightmares; and the difficulty of sharing her memories with her son and his wish for her to do so.
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
- G., Paula, -- 1917-
Corporate Bodies
- Stutthof (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Postwar experiences.
- Survivor-child relations.
- Antisemitism -- Postwar.
- Postwar effects.
- Husband -- Death.
- Mutual aid.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Women.
- Video tapes.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Soviet occupation.
- Zionist activities.
- Concentration camps -- Psychological aspects.
- Forced labor.
- Jews -- Lithuania -- Kaunas.
- Jewish ghettos.
- Nightmares.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
Places
- SĚiauliai (Lithuania)
- Kovno ghetto.
- Kovno (Lithuania)
- Munich (Germany)
- Sweden.
- Kaunas (Lithuania)
- Berlin (Germany)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat