Maria P. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Maria P., who was born in Dzerzhinsk, Ukraine in 1931. She describes extreme poverty; abandonment by her father; close relations with extended family members; pervasive antisemitism; German invasion in June 1941; anti-Jewish restrictions; random killings; a mass murder of Jews in July 1941; returning home with her mother and aunt; hiding with them during a round-up; another mass killing; their escape to Korche?vka; hiding in a cattle shed; their arrest; her release by the head policeman; her mother joining her in the house of a Czech woman; hiding with her mother in Yasnogorod; begging for food and shelter in surrounding villages; numerous instances of assistance from non-Jews; her mother's contacts with partisans; and liberation by Soviet troops. Mrs. P. recounts her mother testifying in trials of Ukrainian policemen; her father's return; the births of two brothers; attending university; working as a high school teacher; antisemitic incidents; marriage; the births of two daughters; and emigration to Canada. She notes that she and her mother would not have survived without assistance from many non-Jews, and discusses sharing her experience with her children. She shows photographs.

3 videocassettes