Joseph M. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 1383
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Joseph M., who was born in Poland in 1922. He recalls German invasion; the bombing of his home on his birthday, September 25, 1939; anti-Jewish regulations; his family's decision that he should escape to the Soviet zone; seeing his mother for the last time on October 19th; being hidden and guided to the Soviet border by a peasant woman; working in Borisov; learning of his father's and brother's escape to the Soviet zone; and losing contact with his mother and sister after the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. Mr. M. recounts fleeing by train to Smolensk, then Kazakhstan; conscription into the Soviet army; forced labor in a Siberian coal mine from early 1942 onward; severe cold, hunger, and discipline; returning to Poland in 1946; fleeing to the American zone with help from Zionist groups; living in displaced persons camps in Wegscheid, Admont and Wels; working for the Joint in Linz; marrying in 1949; and emigrating to the United States in 1951. He notes finding surviving cousins, but never learning the fate of his parents and siblings.

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

Subjects

Places

Genre

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.