Rikki R. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Rikki R., who was born in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia in 1927. She recalls a happy childhood in a close, Orthodox family; German invasion in 1941; expulsion from school; termination of her father's government job; his arrest with her older brother in October (she never saw them again); hiding with her mother, younger brother, and grandmother in her aunt's house with assistance from Muslim neighbors; escaping to Mostar in February 1942 using false papers supplied by Muslims; internment with her family by Italian forces on Hvar Island in September; their transfer to Rab Island six months later; liberation by partisans in 1943; joining the partisans in Banija; attending a teacher's seminar in Glina; and working as a teacher's aide until the end of the war. Mrs. R. recounts traveling with her family to Zagreb, then Sarajevo, in May 1945; learning her father and brother had perished; emigration to Israel with her family in June 1949; marriage in 1950; and emigration to the United States in 1962. Mrs. R. discusses her continuing belief in God; a recent trip to Yugoslavia; sharing her experiences with her children; and her belief that she can neither forget nor forgive.
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
- R., Rikki, -- 1927-
Subjects
- Mothers and daughters.
- Brothers and sisters.
- Faith.
- Child survivors.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Children.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Yugoslavia.
- Postwar experiences.
- Survivor-child relations.
- Italian occupation.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Hiding.
- False papers.
- Partisans.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Women.
- Video tapes.
Places
- Hvar Island (Croatia)
- Mostar (Bosnia and Hercegovina)
- Sarajevo (Bosnia and Hercegovina)
- Yugoslavia.
- Rab Island (Croatia : Concentration camp)
- Zagreb (Croatia)
- Glina (Croatia)
- Banija (Croatia)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat