Yelena M. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Yelena M., who was born in approximately 1934, the younger of two sisters. She recounts growing up in Odesa; their relative affluence; a close extended family; war beginning on June 22, 1941; her father's mobilization; hiding in catacombs; her father's return; arrival of Axis troops in the fall; her father hiding; her mother being beaten and her uncle being shot to death in front of her; her mother obtaining false papers; being denounced by a neighbor; her mother bribing a guard for their release; fleeing by train; ghettoization in Chechelสนnik, still posing as non-Jews; being told by her parents to pose as a mute; starvation and overcrowding; her father's death; Ukrainians bringing them food, without which they would not have survived; molding toys from clay and sharing them with other children; escaping to a village; locals giving them food, clothing, and better identity papers; her mother working in a hospital; liberation by Soviet troops; returning home; learning most of their family had been killed; reunion with an uncle; difficulty recovering their apartment; pervasive antisemitism; concealing her experiences; studying art; her mother's death in 1956; her sister's early death; and her emigration to Israel. Ms. M. notes the importance of her mother's skills and strength to their survival, as well as assistance from non-Jews. She discusses fears, lack of confidence, and physical maladies resulting from her experiences. She shows photographs.

6 videocassettes