William N. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of William N., who was born in Zawiercie, Poland in 1923. He recalls antisemitic harassment; German invasion; fleeing to Wolbrom; returning after several days; forced labor; one brother fleeing to the Soviet Union; his other brother volunteering for forced labor in Germany, hoping to protect his parents and William N.; deportation to Ottmuth, then Fu?nfteichen/Marksta?dt in 1942; receiving packages from his parents through a Polish factory worker; a severe beating after being caught with extra food; his brother's arrival in 1943; frequently helping each other; their transfer to Gross-Rosen, then Buchenwald; separation from his brother when he was transferred to Spaichingen; a death march to Dachau; observing cannibalism; escaping with another prisoner; a German feeding and sheltering them; liberation by United States troops; becoming ill from eating; reunion with his brothers in Memmingen; marriage; a child's birth; and emigration to the United States. Mr. N. discusses planning to kill Germans and not be Jewish if he survived, but just wanting to live after liberation. He shows photographs.
Extent and Medium
2 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., William, -- 1923-
Corporate Bodies
- Spaichingen (Concentration camp)
- Buchenwald (Concentration camp)
- Gross-Rosen (Concentration camp)
- MarkstaĚdt (Concentration camp)
- Ottmuth (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Mutual aid.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Escapes.
- Antisemitism -- Prewar.
- Death marches.
- Cannibalism.
- Forced labor.
- Brothers.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Video tapes.
- Men.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Postwar effects.
- Postwar experiences.
Places
- FuĚnfteichen (Poland : Concentration camp)
- Memmingen (Germany)
- Wolbrom (Poland)
- Zawiercie (Poland)
- Poland.
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat