Genia S. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Genia S., who was born in Sosnowiec, Poland in 1927, one of seven children. She recalls moving to Bielsko-Bia?a; German invasion; a round-up of men including her father; his return three months later; anti-Jewish restrictions including confiscation of their business; her family's move to Sosnowiec to join relatives; serving in her older sister's place for forced labor (her sister was ill); deportation with other girls to a camp; slave labor in a textile factory; starvation, lack of sleep, and arduous labor; her older sister's arrival two years later; assisting each other; sabotaging the machinery; abandonment by the guards in May 1945; arrival of Soviet troops; many women dying from eating; assistance from the Red Cross; recuperating for about three months; returning home; hostility from non-Jewish Poles; traveling to Germany; living in a displaced persons camp; marriage; her daughter's birth; and emigration to the United States in 1949. Mrs. S. discusses details of camp life; dreaming of food; and amazement that she survived such conditions for almost five years.
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., Genia, -- 1927-2008.
Corporate Bodies
- International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
Subjects
- Holocaust survivors.
- Women.
- Video tapes.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Children.
- Forced labor.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Sabotage.
- Refugee camps.
- Sisters.
- Concentration camps -- Psychological aspects.
- Child survivors.
- Postwar experiences.
Places
- Poland.
- Sosnowiec (Województwo Śląskie, Poland)
- Bielsko-Biała (Poland)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat