Roma B. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 3863
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Roma B., who was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1926. She recalls German invasion in September; ghettoization; joining Hashomer Hatzair; her brother's bar mitzvah; hiding during round-ups; her father arranging her transfer to a farm in July 1942; learning her family was deported (she never saw them again); returning to Warsaw; transfer to a labor camp; returning to Warsaw in January 1943; hiding with relatives during the April 1943 uprising; their discovery; deportation to Majdanek; transfer to Auschwitz; assignment to Canada Kommando; public hanging of Mala Zimetbaum who slit her own wrists; the Sonderkommando revolt; a death march, then transport to Ravensbrück; transfer to Malchow; sabotaging her munitions work; the guards leaving in May 1945; liberation; searching for relatives in Łódź and Warsaw; living with cousins in Allenstein (Olsztyn), posing as Christians; traveling to Berlin; living in the UNRRA camp, Schlactensee; moving to Eschwege; medical studies in Frankfurt; and emigration to Israel in May 1948 via Strasbourg and Marseille. Mrs. B. discusses details of camp and ghetto life; the importance of friends to her survival; loss of dignity and constant terror; reluctance to share her experiences; the Six Day War as the "first crack" in the "wall" around her memory; gradually sharing her experiences; and visiting Malchow and Ravensbrück in 1995.

Extent and Medium

3 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

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Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.