Roman B. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Roman B., who was born in L?viv, Poland in 1929. He recalls living in Katowice; his father's successful practice as an eye surgeon; attending Polish public school; his family's strong Polish identity; visiting his wealthy grandparents in Pidhai?t?s?i; assisting German Jewish refugees in 1938; visiting his grandparents in summer 1939 with his mother; his father's recall into the Polish military (he ended up in England); Soviet occupation; his grandparents' and relatives' deportation east as capitalists (it saved their lives); attending Soviet schools; moving to L?viv in 1940; German invasion; returning to Pidhai?t?s?i; his aunt obtaining false papers; Ukrainians hiding them in the hospital during round-ups; assistance from the Polish underground; moving to Warsaw with his mother using false papers; surgeries to conceal his circumcision (it failed) and shorten his nose; living with a Polish family, then in a home for children of Polish officers; observing the Warsaw ghetto uprising; moving to orphanages in Jo?zefo?w, then Miedzezyn; occasional visits from his mother; liberation by Soviet troops; reunion with his mother; moving to Katowice; joining his father in England in 1946; living in Scotland; his mother's arrival a year later; becoming an economist; marriage in 1958; and his daughter's birth. Mr. B. notes that the Holocaust is a vast area of incomprehension to him, in terms of a philosophy which condoned mass murder.
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. Any commercial use requires additional permissions.
Rules and Conventions
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Process Info
compiled by Staff of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
People
- B., Roman, -- 1929-
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Poland.
- Orphanages -- Poland.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Children.
- Jewish children in the Holocaust.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Video tapes.
- Men.
- Postwar experiences.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- False papers.
- Soviet occupation.
- Hiding.
- Mothers and sons.
- Child survivors.
- Holocaust survivors.
Places
- Poland.
- Lʹviv (Ukraine)
- Katowice (Poland)
- Pidhaĭt︠s︡i (Ukraine)
- Miedzeszyn (Warsaw, Poland)
- Józefów (Poland)
- Warsaw (Poland) -- History -- Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, 1943.
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat