Reuben N. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Reuben N., who was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1920. He recounts his parents' deaths; living with relatives in M?awa; visiting his sister in P?onsk; antisemitic harassment; participating in Betar; volunteering for the Polish military during the German invasion; traveling to P?onsk, then Ciechano?w; a public hanging; forced labor; assistance from a Pole in escaping; joining Armia Ludowa in Praga; obtaining false documents and authentic baptismal papers; capture in Pu?tusk in spring 1943; imprisonment in Pawiak and Szczecin; deportation to Auschwitz; learning his sister was alive; volunteering for transfer after a Pole suspected he was a Jew; arrival at Mauthausen; slave labor outside the camp; a death march returning to Mauthausen in spring 1945; liberation by United States troops; a six-month recuperation; returning to Poland; leaving due to pogroms against Jews; living in Berlin, then Hannover; hearing from his sister; attending veterinary school; marriage; emigration to the United States in 1949; completing his studies in Germany in 1951; and his career in the United States. Dr. N. discusses relations between prisoner groups and POWs; surviving due to his faith, hiding his Judaism, and kindnesses of others; health problems resulting from the war; and painful memories. He shows photographs and memorabilia.
Extent and Medium
3 videocassettes
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
- N., Reuben, -- 1920-
Corporate Bodies
- Poland. -- Armia Ludowa.
- Pawiak (Prison)
- Auschwitz (Concentration camp)
- Mauthausen (Concentration camp)
- Betar.
Subjects
- Prisoners of war -- Poland.
- Prisoners of war -- Austria.
- Faith.
- Concentration camps -- Psychological aspects.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Polish.
- Escapes.
- Concentration camps -- Sociological aspects.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons, Polish.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Forced labor.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Men.
- Video tapes.
- Antisemitism -- Postwar.
- False papers.
- Postwar experiences.
- Postwar effects.
- Death marches.
- Zionist organizations.
- Antisemitism -- Prewar.
- Aid by non-Jews.
Places
- Płońsk (Poland)
- Ciechanów (Poland)
- Pułtusk (Poland)
- Praga (Warsaw, Poland)
- Poland.
- Warsaw (Poland)
- Mława (Poland)
- Szczecin (Poland)
- Berlin (Germany)
- Hannover (Germany)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat