Maurice K. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Maurice K., who was born in Uz?horod, Czechoslovakia (presently Ukraine) in 1924, one of ten children. He recalls antisemitic harassment from age four; his observant home; Hungarian occupation; anti-Jewish laws; one brother's emigration to Switzerland; protection due to family political connections; German occupation in April 1944; anti-Jewish measures; his mother arranging hiding places for him and his siblings in May; hiding on a farm; ghettoization of his parents, two brothers, and sister-in-law (he never saw his parents and one brother again); taking food to others in hiding; being joined by his brother; posing as a Christian; joining their sister in Budapest with assistance from a German officer; obtaining false papers; working with his brother in a German Army garage, then in the food industry, which exempted them from the military; witnessing a mass killing of Jews; liberation by Soviet troops in January 1945; finding his siblings (all but one survived); moving to Oradea; living in Prague with eight siblings; and emigration to the United States via France. Mr. K. discusses people's reluctance to hear about his experiences; sharing his story with his children and students; continuing nightmares; and his ongoing relationship with the family who hid him.
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
- K., Maurice, -- 1924-
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Men.
- Video tapes.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Hiding.
- Hungarian occupation.
- Antisemitism -- Prewar.
- Mutual aid.
- Survivor-child relations.
- Nightmares.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities.
- Brothers and sisters.
- Postwar experiences.
- Postwar effects.
- Mass killings.
- False papers.
- Aid by non-Jews.
Places
- Užhorod (Czechoslovakia)
- France.
- Prague (Czech Republic)
- Oradea (Romania)
- Budapest (Hungary)
- Czechoslovakia.
- Uz︠h︡horod (Ukraine)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat