Isaac Z. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 1710
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Isaac Z., who was born in Ri?ga, Latvia in 1920, the oldest of four children. He recalls living in Li?va?ni; antisemitic harassment; participation in Gordonyah; leading Gordonyah in Daugavpils and Ri?ga; Soviet occupation in 1940; returning to Li?va?ni; German invasion in June 1941; escaping to the Soviet Union; deportation to Cheli?a?binsk; forced labor; transferring to Alma-Ata; teaching in western Kazakhstan; enlisting in the Soviet military; serving in Stalingrad; transfer to forced labor in coal mines in Novosibirskai?a? because he was born in a capitalist country; focusing solely on obtaining extra food; attending a synagogue in Novosibirsk while being transferred to Kyrgyzstan; becoming "alive" again after having enough food; working in Kui?byshev; pretending to be Polish to leave the Soviet Union; enlisting in the Polish army; a seder in Che?m in 1944; deserting; obtaining false papers with help from Zionists; organizing illegal immigration to Palestine in displaced persons camps; marriage in Germany; learning his entire family was killed; divorce; studying psychotherapy; living in Munich; remarriage in 1955; and emigration to the United States in 1957. Mr. Z. discusses his career as a therapist; repressing family losses until recently; and contact with relatives in Israel and South America. He shows photographs.

Extent and Medium

3 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

  • Z., Isaac, -- 1920-2007

Corporate Bodies

  • Gordonyah--Makabi ha-tsaʻir (Association)

Subjects

  • Video tapes.
  • Men.
  • Holocaust survivors.
  • Antisemitism -- Prewar.
  • World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
  • Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
  • Refugees, Jewish.
  • Jews -- Migrations.
  • World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, Jewish.
  • World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, Soviet.
  • Forced labor.
  • Stalingrad, Battle of, Volgograd, Russia, 1942-1943.
  • Concentration camps -- Psychological aspects.
  • Concentration camps -- Soviet Union.
  • Refugee camps.
  • World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, Polish.
  • False papers.
  • Postwar experiences.
  • Soviet occupation.
  • Mutual aid.

Places

  • Latvia.
  • Rīga (Latvia)
  • Līvāni (Latvia)
  • Daugavpils (Latvia)
  • Cheli︠a︡binsk (Russia)
  • Alma-Ata (Kazakhstan)
  • Kazakhstan.
  • Novosibirskai︠a︡ oblastʹ (Russia)
  • Novosibirsk (Russia)
  • Kyrgyzstan.
  • Kuĭbyshev (Novosibirskai︠a︡ oblastʹ, Russia)
  • Chełm (Lublin, Poland)
  • Munich (Germany)

Genre

  • Oral histories. -- aat
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.