David D. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of David D., who was born in Sierpc, Poland in 1923, one of five children. He recalls German invasion in 1939; one brother's death in the Polish military; forced transfer with his family to Warsaw; living with an uncle; working outside of Warsaw; providing food for his family; his parents' deaths from starvation; trying to persuade his sister and brother to leave with him (they refused); traveling to Racia?z?; briefly returning to Warsaw for his siblings (they would not join him); ghettoization; deportation to Auschwitz/Birkenau; finding a cousin; assignment to masonry school (this saved his life); working in Birkenau (he later learned they built a crematorium), then outside the camp; Polish civilians bringing them food; smuggling food from the bakery to fellow prisoners; a death march to Waldlager in January 1945, then to Dachau; liberation from a train in Tuszyn by United States troops; living in Feldafing, then Landsberg; reunion with his cousin; traveling to Italy to emigrate to Palestine; returning to Landsberg; marriage in 1946; his son's birth; assistance from HIAS locating relatives in the United States; and emigration there in February 1949. Mr. D. notes he is the sole survivor and wants others to remember his family.
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
- D., David, -- 1923-
Corporate Bodies
- HIAS (Agency)
- Feldafing (Displaced persons camp)
- Landsberg am Lech (Displaced persons camp)
- Waldlager V (Concentration camp)
- Dachau (Concentration camp)
- Auschwitz (Concentration camp)
- Birkenau (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Death marches.
- Postwar experiences.
- Jewish ghettos.
- Concentration camp inmates -- Family relationships.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Forced labor.
- Men.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Video tapes.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Mutual aid.
Places
- Italy.
- Tuszyn (Piotrków Trybunalski, Poland)
- Raciąż (Poland)
- Warsaw (Poland)
- Poland.
- Sierpc (Poland : Powiat)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat