Philip K. and Isabella L. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
A follow-up, directed videotape testimony of Philip K., whose first testimony was recorded in 1989. Mr. K. describes Jewish education, culture, and community in Kisva?rda; ghettoization by Hungarian troops in spring 1944, including thousands from surrounding areas; his recognition of danger in spite of others' Hungarian patriotism; deportation to Auschwitz; the entirely different conception of time in concentration camps; a rabbi who kept a mental Jewish calendar and helped him maintain kashruth; dealing with entirely new moral issues; the uncontrollable power of hunger; his desperation when he volunteered for transfer to Dachau; his ongoing and futile search for understanding how and why the Holocaust occurred and why lessons have not been learned; the importance and difficulty of redefining resistance and heroism under previously unimaginable circumstances; the contrast between Nazi and Jewish ideology; the profound change in world events marked by the Holocaust; survivors' profound difficulty learning to live again; his wish not to receive special treatment as a survivor; and the variety of experiences ("There are as many ways of survival as survivors"). He is joined briefly by his sister who discusses her efforts to memorialize those killed in the Holocaust and problems of survivors' children.
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
- K., Philip, -- 1924-
Corporate Bodies
- Auschwitz (Concentration camp)
- Dachau (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Jews -- Hungary -- Kisvárda.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Moral and ethical aspects.
- Postwar effects.
- Mutual aid.
- Survivor-child relations.
- Women.
- Men.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Concentration camps -- Psychological aspects.
- Judaism -- Customs and practices.
- Jewish ghettos.
- Concentration camp inmates -- Religious life.
- Video tapes.
- Holocaust survivors.
Places
- Kisvárda (Hungary)
- Kisvárda ghetto.
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat