Irene W. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Irene W., who was born in Zawiercie, Poland in 1925, one of six children. She recounts her father's death in 1936; moving to Warsaw to join two older siblings living with relatives; German invasion; anti-Jewish violence; ghettoization; her older brother leaving for home; being smuggled out by non-Jews from Zawiercie; traveling to Wolbrom, then Pilica; living with her uncle and grandfather; smuggling herself with a cousin to Zawiercie; difficulties obtaining food since she was not registered; deportation with other girls to Sosnowiec, then Gabersdorf in February 1942; slave labor in a textile factory; receiving letters from home for a while; deteriorating conditions as time passed; arrival of Hungarians in 1944; learning from them of extermination camps (she wanted to die then); liberation; returning to Zawiercie; meeting a cousin; smuggling themselves to Germany; living in Feldafing displaced persons camp; marriage; her son's birth; and emigration to the United States in 1949. Ms. W. discusses relations between women in the camp; assisting each other; the camp organization; continuing fears and nightmares resulting from her experiences; not sharing her story with her children; and recently visiting her father's grave in Poland. She shows photographs.

2 videocassettes