Michael R. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Michael R., who was born in Dresden, Germany in 1926. He recalls leaving suddenly for Teplice right after he started school; moving to Prague; his grandparents, who remained in Dresden, emigrating to Palestine; his father obtaining Ecuadorian passports; the outbreak of war preventing their emigration; his father's death in 1940; anti-Jewish restrictions, including expulsion from school and wearing the yellow star; deportation with his mother to Theresienstadt in 1942; living in a children's barrack, then a youth barrack; visiting his mother daily; several forced labor assignments; constant hunger; sham improvements for a Red Cross visit; musical performances by prisoners; separation from his mother when he was deported to Auschwitz (he never saw her again); useless slave labor; transfer to Gleiwitz; a Polish civilian worker leaving him food; a beating when he was caught eating it; fellow prisoners helping him while he healed; public hangings; a death march to Blechhammer; hiding when the march continued; being shot; liberation by Soviet troops; hospitalization; returning to Prague; moving to Deggendorf displaced persons camp; a cousin in the Jewish brigade finding him and arranging his illegal entry to Italy; illegal emigration to Palestine; reunion with his grandparents; joining the Haganah; serving in the Israel-Arab War; marriage to a survivor in 1952; the birth of two children; his wife's death in 1980; and marriage to a British woman. He shows photographs and documents.
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
- R., Michael, -- 1926-
Corporate Bodies
- International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
- Deggendorf (Displaced persons camp)
- Theresienstadt (Concentration camp)
- Haganah (Organization)
- Blechhammer E/3 (Concentration camp)
- Auschwitz (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Video tapes.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Men.
- Jewish children in the Holocaust.
- Mothers and sons.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Children.
- Death marches.
- Refugee camps.
- Forced labor.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Mutual aid.
- Israel-Arab War, 1948-1949.
- Child survivors.
- Postwar experiences.
Places
- Germany.
- Dresden (Germany)
- Palestine -- Emigration and immigration.
- Italy.
- Prague (Czech Republic)
- Teplice (Czech Republic)
- Gleiwitz (Poland : Concentration camp)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat