Chaim F. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Chaim F., who was born in Trochenbrod, Poland (presently Sofii?vka, Ukraine) in 1909, one of six children. He recounts his father's emigration to Argentina and subsequent death; his mother supporting them; receiving money twice a year from his mother's two brothers in the United States; working with his uncle, then on his own from age seventeen; marriage at twenty; the births of five children; draft into the Polish military in 1931; Soviet occupation in 1939; German invasion in June 1941; mass killings by Ukrainians, including his mother, sisters, and their children; fleeing to the forests; working with Poles; learning his son had been killed; soliciting help to bury him with required quorum of ten Jewish men; fleeing in 1942 when Ukrainians approached again; hiding with Polish neighbors; learning his wife and children had been killed; hiding with several Polish neighbors, rotating from house to house; fleeing to another location, fearing Ukrainians; staying with partisans while his injuries healed; learning a few others from his town had survived; liberation by Soviet troops; returning to Trochenbrod; marriage in 1947; emigration to the United States in 1949 to join relatives; and the births of four daughters. Mr. F. notes he is the sole survivor of his family and shows a book about Trochenbrod.
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
- F., Chaim, -- 1909-
Subjects
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Hiding.
- Forests.
- Soviet occupation.
- Postwar experiences.
- Partisans.
- Wife -- Death.
- Men.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Video tapes.
- Children -- Death.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Ukraine.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, Polish.
Places
- Sofiïvka (Volynsʹka oblastʹ, Ukraine)
- Poland.
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat