Cyla D. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Cyla D., who was born in Drohobych, Ukraine (then Poland), in 1915, the youngest of six children of an oil well owner. Mrs. D. describes a happy childhood; her musical education; living with her sister in Stryi? when the war began; Soviet occupation; marriage to an attorney in 1940; her daughter's birth in 1941; German invasion; her mother being taken in the first round-up (she later learned she was killed); her father committing suicide; giving birth while hiding with her husband in Boryslav (the baby could not be saved); numerous instances of assistance from her father's Polish business acquaintances in several hiding places; arranging a separate hiding place for her daughter; and liberation by Soviet troops. Mrs. D. relates her husband's Zionism; their arrest by the Soviets; release after two months; emigration to Israel, then Canada and the United States; difficulties since her husband could not practice law; teaching piano; her daughter's emigration to Israel; and her grandchildren's professions. Mrs. D. reviews vivid details of life in hiding and beautiful memories of her siblings.
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., Cyla, -- 1915-
Subjects
- Children -- Death.
- Zionists.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Women.
- Video tapes.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Postwar experiences.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Hiding.
- Soviet occupation.
Places
- Israel.
- Boryslav (Ukraine)
- StryiĚ (Ukraine)
- Drohobych (Ukraine)
- Poland.
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat