Margita H. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Margita H., who was born in Šamorín, Czechoslovakia (presently Slovakia) in 1923. She recounts visiting grandparents in Martin; moving to Vel̕ké Leváre, then Tomášov; attending school in Bratislava; expulsion in 1938 due to anti-Jewish laws; participating in Hashomer Hatzair in Nové Zámky and Budapest; returning to Tomášov; German occupation; forced relocation to Rastice; working in Hubice; transfer to Dunajská Streda; deportation to Auschwitz/Birkenau; separation with her sister from their mother (they never saw her again); remaining with a group from Šamorín; their transfer to Płasźow six days later; slave labor in a quarry; public executions; hospitalization; transfer back to Auschwitz; hospitalization; assistance from a nurse whom she knew from Martin; transfer to Augsburg; improved conditions; assistance from their civilian supervisor; her sister's illness; the civilian doctor arranging her sister's transfer to the hospital in Dachau; learning a prayer and repeating it often for her sister's recovery; her transfer to Dachau (she faked appendicitis); liberation by United States troops in April 1945; traveling through Plzeň to Bratislava, then Šamorín; reunion with her father and cousin in Tomášov; difficulty recovering their property; and marriage in 1947. Ms. H. discusses the importance of being with the group from Šamorín to her and her sister's survival; relations between national groups in the camps; silence in Slovakia concerning the Holocaust until recently; and regrets that she has not shared her experiences with her children. She shows camp artifacts.

2 videocassettes