Zena G. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 1399
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Zena G., who was born in Vilna, Poland in 1914. She recalls her close family; Jewish cultural life; marriage in 1936; her daughter's birth; German invasion in 1941; a round-up of men, including her husband; mass killings at Ponary; ghettoization; escaping with help from Polish friends; returning to the ghetto because her sister required hospitalization; forced labor for H.K.P. in Keilis; a public execution; and her mother being taken to Ponary. Mrs. G. describes teaching her daughter Christian prayers in the hope she could be smuggled out and hidden; being knocked unconscious in a futile effort to save her daughter; escaping from the ghetto with her sister; hiding in the attic of Polish friends until liberation by Soviet troops; traveling to Berlin to try to find her daughter; learning her husband survived; reunion with him in Israel; unsuccessful efforts searching for their daughter; and emigration to the United States in 1946. She discusses a recent trip to Vilna with her sister; hearing her daughter's voice "calling her" from their house; taking soil from Ponary in memory of her mother; and continued friendship with her rescuers.

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

  • G., Zena, -- 1914-

Corporate Bodies

  • H.K.P. (Concentration camp : Vilnius, Lithuania)

Subjects

  • Mothers and daughters.
  • World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities.
  • Jews -- Lithuania -- Vilnius.
  • Forced labor.
  • Family.
  • Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Psychological aspects.
  • Paneriai Massacres, Paneriai, Lithuania, 1941-1944.
  • Children -- Death.
  • Holocaust survivors.
  • Video tapes.
  • World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
  • Jewish ghettos.
  • Women.
  • Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
  • Aid by non-Jews.
  • World War, 1939-1945 -- Children.
  • Postwar experiences.
  • Hiding.
  • Mutual aid.
  • Mass killings.
  • Postwar effects.

Places

  • Vilna (Poland)
  • Poland.
  • Vilna ghetto.
  • Vilnius (Lithuania)

Genre

  • Oral histories. -- ftamc
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.