Veronika S. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Veronika S., who was born in Vráble, Czechoslovakia (presently Slovakia) in 1929, the middle of three children. She recalls celebrating Jewish holidays; Hungarian occupation in 1938; her father's six-month imprisonment for assisting Jews escaping from Slovakia; anti-Jewish restrictions; deportation to Levice, then Auschwitz/Birkenau in spring 1944; separation with her sister from her family; brutal conditions; a woman from her father's hometown giving them soap and a thermos, which saved their lives; transfer to a factory; slave labor; Italian male prisoners giving them food; a Jewish prisoner doctor helping her sister when she was ill; a German guard leaving extra food for her; cleaning rubble when the city was bombed; liberation from a death march by United States troops; returning home hoping to find their family (no one survived); living with a neighbor, then with relatives in Budapest; moving to Nitra; both she and her sister getting married; moving to Trenčin; her sister's emigration to Israel, with her husband and son; the births of a son and daughter; her daughter remaining in Israel after a visit; being denied permission to visit when her daughter was married and her grandchildren were born; her son's marriage to a Catholic; and a recent visit to Birkenau. Ms. S. discusses her strong bond with her sister and attributing their survival to chance and her sister's aid when she was ill.

1 videocassette