Henry F. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Henry F., who was born in 1920 in Nowy Korczyn, Poland. He recalls his religious home; ubiquitous antisemitism; participating in Zionist organizations; German invasion; immediate round-up and shooting of 200 young men; public hangings; anti-Jewish regulations; forced transfer to the Sosnowiec ghetto in November 1942; deportation to Reigersfeld; slave labor, starvation, frequent beatings leading to many suicides; his decision to commit suicide after one year; and transfer to Auschwitz and Blechhammer, before he could implement his plan. Mr. F. describes encountering his brother which gave him the incentive to live; doing favors for and receiving food from a German foreman; public hangings; the death march to Gross Rosen in January 1945; transfer to Buchenwald; separation from his brother on arrival (he never saw him again); transfer to Spaichingen; marching out two weeks later; liberation by American troops; recuperation in an army hospital; assistance from the Joint; marriage in 1947; and emigration to the United States in 1949. He discusses his visits to Poland and the "scars he carries" including continuing nightmares.
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
- F., Henry, -- 1920-
Corporate Bodies
- Spaichingen (Concentration camp)
- Blechhammer E/3 (Concentration camp)
- Buchenwald (Concentration camp)
- Gross Rosen (Concentration camp)
- Auschwitz (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Postwar effects.
- Mass killings.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Antisemitism -- Prewar.
- Death marches.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Video tapes.
- Men.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Nightmares.
- Jewish ghettos.
- Jews -- Poland -- Sosnowiec (Województwo Śląskie)
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Concentration camps -- Psychological aspects.
- Brothers.
- Forced labor.
Places
- Poland.
- Nowy Korczyn (Poland)
- Sosnowiec ghetto.
- Reigersfeld (Poland : Concentration camp)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat