Josef W. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Josef W., who was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1922. He describes his prewar life; German occupation of Prague; anti-Jewish restrictions; deportation to Terezi?n in November 1941, followed by his parents; forced labor; daily life and organization of the camp; meeting his future wife; transport with his family to Auschwitz; transfer after three months from the family camp to Schwarzheide in 1944; arduous conditions; starvation; and forced labor in a gas factory. Mr. W. tells of extreme hunger during the death march to Varnsdorf in 1945; evacuation, as Soviet troops advanced, in cattle cars to Litome?ri?ce; the disappearance of SS guards; walking to Terezi?n; receiving Red Cross medical assistance; returning to Prague; resuming his work as a mechanic; learning his future wife was in Prague; reunion with his mother and sister; marriage in 1947; fleeing to Vienna after Soviet intervention in 1968; and emigration to the United States. Mr. W. speaks of his life in the United States; people's responses to him as a Holocaust survivor; and discussing his experiences with his children.
Extent and Medium
2 videocassettes (3/4" u-matic)
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
- W., Josef, -- 1922-
Corporate Bodies
- Auschwitz (Concentration camp)
- Theresienstadt (Concentration camp)
- Schwarzheide (Concentration camp)
- Birkenau (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Holocaust survivors.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Men.
- Video tapes.
- Antisemitism -- Postwar.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Death marches.
- Postwar experiences.
- Postwar effects.
- Survivor-child relations.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities.
- Forced labor.
- Family.
- Concentration camps -- Sociological aspects.
Places
- Prague (Czech Republic)
- Varnsdorf (Czech Republic)
- LitomeĚriĚce (Czech Republic)
- Czechoslovakia -- History -- Intervention, 1968.
- Czechoslovakia.
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat