Mendel F. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Mendel F., who was born in ?o?dz?, Poland in 1924, the youngest of four children. Mr. F. describes active participation in S.K.I.F., the youth organization of the Bund; one brother's death from illness in 1936; German invasion in 1939; ghettoization; starvation, poor sanitation, and high death rates; he and other youths protesting the lack of food in March 1941; joining a group of friends giving their flour rations to a sick friend; assisting with organizing schools and youth activities; his other brother being shot in 1942; hiding with his parents, sister, and relatives during round-ups; joining their father when he was caught by Hans Biebow in summer 1944; their deportation to Auschwitz/Birkenau; his father joining his mother when she was selected for death; remaining with his uncle; losing his will to live; his uncle insisting he eat; saving a friend from selection with assistance from a non-Jewish Polish prisoner; transfer to Vechelde about six weeks later; slave labor in a tank factory; death marches to several camps, including Dora and Ravensbru?ck; receiving Red Cross packages; liberation from Ludwigslust by United States troops; returning to ?o?dz?; traveling to Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp to find his sister; discovering it was a cousin with the same name; living in Brussels; learning his sister was alive in Sweden; and settling in Paris. Mr. F. discusses details of life in the ?o?dz? ghetto and the impossibility of describing arrival at Auschwitz/Birkenau.

2 videocassettes