Meir R. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Meir R., who was born in Ia?si, Romania in 1931. He recounts his parents' deaths; placement in a Jewish orphanage when he was five; attending Romanian school; antisemitic incidents; German occupation; anti-Jewish measures; witnessing a mass killing of Jews by Romanians; forced labor; relative safety in the orphanage due to Red Cross protection; being terrorized by an SS soldier; liberation by Soviet troops in 1944; placement with a family in Bucharest; acting as a courier for the underground; traveling to Constant?a in order to emigrate to Palestine; joining an illegal ship; stopping in Istanbul; receiving aid from the Jewish community there; arrival in Palestine in 1944; living on kibbutzim; fighting in the War of Independence; service in the merchant marine; moving to South Africa; marriage to a non-Jew; emigration to the United States; divorce; and remarriage. Mr. R. notes he did not share his experiences until a recent car accident which resulted in painful memories and nightmares; undergoing therapy; and realizing that sharing his experiences diminishes his pain. He shows photographs.
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
- R., Meir, -- 1931-
Corporate Bodies
- International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Children.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Romania.
- Orphanages -- Romania.
- Forced labor.
- Israel-Arab War, 1948-1949.
- Interfaith marriage.
- Nightmares.
- Child survivors.
- Mass killings.
- Antisemitism -- Prewar.
- Postwar experiences.
- Postwar effects.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Men.
- Video tapes.
- Holocaust survivors.
Places
- IaĚŚsi (Romania)
- Romania.
- ConstantĚŚa (Romania)
- Bucharest (Romania)
- Palestine -- Emigration and immigration.
- Istanbul (Turkey)
- South Africa.
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat