Ben S. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 1330
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Ben S., who was born in Opa?tow, Poland in 1925. He recalls attending public school and yeshiva; German occupation in 1939; ghettoization including Jews from surrounding areas; deportation in August 1942 with 800 others to Skarz?ysko-Kamienna; forced labor in the ammunition factory; an injury resulting in blindness in one eye; appells; and brutality and killings by guards. Mr. S. tells of transfer after eighteen months; chaotic conditions in Piotrko?w; receiving food from a Pole who had worked for his father; transfer to Buchenwald in open rail cars; a German who gave them food; Hitler Youth beating them; marching through Dresden to Terezi?n; and liberation by Soviet troops in May 1945. Mr. S. graphically details camp conditions, the impact of extreme hunger and notes that his entire family was killed in Treblinka.

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

  • S., Ben, -- 1925-

Corporate Bodies

  • Skarz̈ysko-Kamienna (Concentration camp)
  • Theresienstadt (Concentration camp)
  • Buchenwald (Concentration camp)

Subjects

  • Holocaust survivors.
  • Video tapes.
  • Jews -- Poland -- Opatów (Tarnobrzeg)
  • Forced labor.
  • World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities.
  • World War, 1939-1945 -- Children.
  • Men.
  • Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
  • World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
  • Jewish ghettos.
  • Aid by non-Jews.
  • Mutual aid.
  • Child survivors.
  • Death marches.
  • Concentration camps -- Psychological aspects.

Places

  • Dresden (Germany)
  • Poland.
  • Opatów ghetto.
  • Piotrków (Poland : Concentration camp)
  • Opatów (Tarnobrzeg, Poland)

Genre

  • Oral histories. -- aat
This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.