Rita L. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 2256
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Rita L., who was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1932. She describes her wealthy, assimilated parents; German invasion; moving to the "small" ghetto; attending an illegal school; corpses in the streets becoming routine; family contacts with Janusz Korczak; escape to an uncle in Klimonto?w; and fleeing to L'viv with her mother in 1942, having learned all Jews were to be deported (she never saw her father again). Mrs. L. recounts living with her non-Jewish governess's sister; moving when threatened by blackmailers; her mother working as a servant for a German family, then in a German officers' club; attending a convent school where the priest guessed she was Jewish and gave her baptismal papers; becoming an ardent Catholic; liberation by Soviet troops in the summer of 1944; moving to ?o?dz?; participating in a Zionist youth group; learning of American relatives through the Joint; and emigrating to Paris in 1945, then the United States in 1950. She relates her continuing interest in Zionism; reluctance to discuss her experiences with her children; changing this attitude due to participation in the Hidden Children Foundation; and a visit to Poland with the Foundation in 1993.

Extent and Medium

2 videocassettes (3/4" u-matic)

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

Corporate Bodies

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.