Palomba F. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Palomba F., who was born in Thessalonike?, Greece in 1923, the fourth of six children. She recalls attending a French school; working from age eleven; German occupation; one brother's conscription for forced labor (he was killed); deportation to Auschwitz/Birkenau on March 20, 1943; remaining with her sister who was pregnant; sharing food with her; her disappearance; solidarity among Greek prisoners; assignment to the shoe commando; seeing her brother once; agreeing they would meet in Thessalonike? after the war; her group of friends hiding one of them when she gave birth (they killed the infant and the mother died); Mala Zimetbaum's public suicide; losing her teeth in a severe beating; public hanging of four women who supplied the Sonderkommando with explosives; hospitalization; a death march, then train transport to Ravensbru?ck in January 1945; transfer to Malchow; assistance from an Austrian civilian worker; liberation by Soviet troops in May; Soviet troops raping her and others; assistance from French survivors; returning to Thessalonike?, hoping to find relatives (none survived); marriage; and the births of three children. Ms. F. discusses relations between national groups in camps; constant fear of death; and the importance of being with other Greeks to her survival.
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
- Zimetbaum, Mala, -- 1918-1944.
- F., Palomba, -- 1923-
Corporate Bodies
- Auschwitz (Concentration camp)
- RavensbruĚck (Concentration camp)
- Malchow (Concentration camp)
- Birkenau (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Forced labor.
- Brothers and sisters.
- Concentration camps -- Sociological aspects.
- Concentration camps -- Psychological aspects.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Sisters.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Women.
- Video tapes.
- Hospitals in concentration camps.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Postwar experiences.
- Death marches.
- Rape.
- Mutual aid.
- Childbirth in concentration camps.
Places
- Greece.
- ThessalonikeĚ (Greece)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat