Henoch D. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Henoch D., who was born in Vilna, Poland (presently Vilnius, Lithuania) in 1928, the younger of two brothers. He recalls attending a Tarbut school; German invasion; his father's disappearance and murder in Ponary; ghettoization; hiding during round-ups; his uncle arranging for him and his mother to move to a village farm; the non-Jewish villagers hiding them during round-ups; contacting his brother through a villager; smuggling food to the ghetto through the same man; discontinuing when it became too dangerous; returning to the ghetto with his mother in 1943; hiding during round-ups; deportation to Vaivara; friendship with another child; the head of his work group giving him extra food; assignment to burning corpses of executed Jews; transfer to Vivikoni for three months; separation from his friend; transfer to another camp for three months; hospitalization for typhus; obtaining extra food begging at local Estonian houses; transfer to Goldfilz; reunion with his brother; sharing extra food with him; their transfer to Stutthof; using ruses to appear older during selections; transfer to Dautmergen; convincing an officer not to select his brother for death; a death march; abandonment by the guards; liberation by French troops; traveling to Sigmaringen, then traveling to seek Jews planning to emigrate to Palestine; separation from his brother en route to Milan (his brother volunteered to bring others from eastern Europe); joining a hachsharah in Magenta; illegal emigration to Palestine; living on several kibbutzim based on his membership in Hashomer Hatzair; military training in Haganah; fighting in the Israel-Arab War; returning to the kibbutz; and meeting his wife. Mr. D. discusses developing his love for Israel during three years of kibbutz experiences; social connections helping him forget his painful memories, despite sensing that Israelis did not fully understand survivors; and thinking more about his past as he grows older.

5 videocassettes