Esther S. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Esther S., who was born in 1913 in Chernikhov, which later became a Czech city and is now in Ukraine. She recalls growing up in an affluent and modern orthodox family of nine children; one brother who was in the Czech army; a younger brother who escaped to Yugoslavia after German occupation of the Sudeten; her family's ghettoization in Uz?h?horod; crowded conditions and lack of food; transport to Auschwitz in May 1944; traumatic separation from her mother; meeting two nieces and remaining with them; the pervasive smell of burning flesh; transfer with her nieces to Torgau in October; slave labor in a munitions factory; and liberation by Soviet troops. Mrs. S. recounts escaping to United States troops; briefly living in Arenberg; reunion with her brother in Chernikhov; staying in the Nuremberg displaced persons camp for four years; meeting her husband there; and emigration to the United States. Mrs. S. notes her doubts concerning the usefulness of her testimony and shows many photographs.
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
- S., Esther, -- 1912-
Corporate Bodies
- Auschwitz (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Holocaust survivors.
- Ungvár ghetto.
- Concentration camp inmates -- Family relationships.
- Refugee camps.
- Jewish ghettos.
- Jews -- Ukraine -- Uz︠h︡horod.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Video tapes.
- Women.
Places
- Nuremberg (Germany : Refugee camp)
- Arenberg (Germany)
- Torgau (Germany : Concentration camp)
- Ukraine.
- Chernikhov (Ukraine)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat