Josif L. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Josif L., who was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1914. He recalls cordial relations with non-Jews; German invasion in 1941; an unsuccessful attempt to enlist in the military; mandatory registration of Jews; forced labor clearing bombing rubble in Belgrade and Smederevo; volunteering as a hostage after a Jewish resistance attempt; an officer who knew him letting him go (the hostages were all shot); obtaining false papers; joining an uncle in Skopje for seven weeks along with his mother, sister, and brother-in-law, moving to Urosevac, then Prizren; moving around during searches with assistance from Albanians and Serbs; moving to Shkodër, Durrës, and Lushnjë in Italian-occupied Albania; frequent visits to Kavajë; German invasion in fall 1943; hiding in Lushnjë and a nearby village until German withdrawal in April 1945; returning to Belgrade; and resuming work as an attorney, assisting in allocating housing for displaced families. Mr. L. discusses testifying at a trial in Graz in 1992 for the officer who had saved him; visiting Simon Wiesenthal in Vienna to confirm his testimony; and the many Serbs, Albanians, and Muslims who helped his family.

1 videocassette