Paula B. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Paula B., who was born in Vilna, Poland in 1925. She recalls her much older brother and sister; a pleasant childhood; Soviet occupation; learning Russian folksongs; German invasion; ghettoization; food shortages; forced labor; participating in a chorus which gave her strength; her brother not returning from work (they never saw him again); her brother-in-law being taken in a round-up; her sister leaving with her child; public hanging of a friend; separation from her parents in a selection; deportation to Kaiserwald; slave labor with a friend (they remain in touch to the present) and her friend's sister; transfer to a subcamp; boat transport to Stutthof (her friend was no longer with her); transfer to Magdeburg; slave labor in a munitions factory; receiving food from French prisoners; brief abandonment by the Germans; their return; a death march; escaping; assistance from a Soviet POW; liberation by French troops; traveling to France; and working for the Joint for forty years. Ms. B. discusses her difficulty making peace with humanity after her experiences.
Extent and Medium
4 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
- B., Paula, -- 1925-
Corporate Bodies
- Kaiserwald (Concentration camp)
- American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.
- Stutthof (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Songs and music.
- Jews -- Lithuania -- Vilnius.
- Jewish ghettos.
- Postwar experiences.
- Death marches.
- Soviet occupation.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Women.
- Forced labor.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Video tapes.
- Holocaust survivors.
Places
- Poland.
- Vilna (Poland)
- Vilnius (Lithuania)
- Magdeburg (Germany : Concentration camp)
- Vilna ghetto.
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat