Sigi Z. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Sigi Z., who was born in Kassel, Germany, in 1928. Mr. Z. tells of his Polish family's isolation from German life; resentment of local German Jews toward Poles; expulsion from Germany in 1939; Poland's refusal of entry; his father's departure for London (they could not obtain visas for the family); and transport with his mother, brother and 1,000 others to Ri?ga in December 1941. He recalls conditions in the Ri?ga ghetto; massacres of Latvian Jews; forced labor in a fish processing plant; smuggling food; witnessing executions; transfer to Kaiserwald in April 1942; rejoining his mother and brother at an army camp at Kaiserwald; transfer in September 1944 to another army camp at Libau; and transfer to Hamburg city prison. He recounts transfer to Kiel-Hasse; execution of about fifty Polish officers; inclusion in an exchange organized by Himmler and Folke Bernadotte; recuperation with his mother and brother in Sweden; reunion with his father; and emigration to America in 1949. Mr. Z. reflects on his postwar career; adjustment difficulties; relations with his children; and the place of the Holocaust in contemporary society.
Extent and Medium
2 videocassettes (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
- Z., Sigi, -- 1928-2000.
Corporate Bodies
- Kaiserwald (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Holocaust survivors.
- Men.
- Video tapes.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Mothers and sons.
- Brothers.
- Forced labor.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Children.
- Jews -- Latvia -- Rīga.
- Jewish ghettos.
- Child survivors.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities.
- Mutual aid.
- Postwar effects.
- Postwar experiences.
- Survivor-child relations.
- Prisoner exchange.
Places
- Germany.
- Kassel (Germany)
- Rīga (Latvia)
- Hamburg (Germany)
- Rīga ghetto.
- Libau (Latvia : Concentration camp)
- Kiel-Hasse (Germany : Concentration camp)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- ftamc