Helena H. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 1561
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Helena H., who was born in 1926 in Pilzno, Poland. She recalls her mother's death when she was six; her father's remarriage; German invasion; public humiliation of Jews; forced labor; the influx of Jews from surrounding towns; hiding during the first "aktion" in July 1942 when many relatives were deported; ghettoization; her brother's deportation during the second "aktion" in November; non-Jewish friends helping her join a transport of Polish laborers in December 1942; and her last glimpse of her father. Mrs. H. recounts transfer to Krako?w; forced labor in Prokocim concentration camp for a year; encountering many Jews who could have exposed her but chose not to recognize her; obtaining false papers she could not use because they did not "match" her other papers; an Austrian worker choosing her as his servant and bringing her to the Tyrol via Vienna in February 1944; comfortable living conditions in Tyrol; her collapse upon liberation in 1945; and fear of revealing her true identity for another year and a half. She notes she dreams of losing her papers when she is under pressure.

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.