Henry A. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Henry A., who was born in Jasło, Poland in 1922. He recounts cordial relations with non-Jews (many assisted him when he escaped in 1943); German invasion; fleeing to the Soviet zone; imprisonment in Lʹvov; release three weeks later; returning home; ghettoization in 1941; moving to Jedlicze in late 1942; selection to work in a refinery (his father and brother were deported and killed); placing his young cousin with a non-Jew (she survived); transfer to the Rzeszów ghetto in late 1942; transfer to Płaszów; surgery without anesthesia; escaping four weeks later; hiding with his mother's non-Jewish friend; entering Szebnie; transfer two weeks later to another camp, then to Auschwitz in August 1944; transfer to Laurahütte, then Mauthausen; slave labor in a quarry; transfer to Hannover five days later; a death march to Bergen-Belsen; liberation by British troops; living in Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp; assistance from UNRRA; moving to Stuttgart; marriage; assistance from the Joint; learning from the Red Cross of friends and relatives who had survived; returning to his hometown; threats from members of the AK; leaving for Kraków, then Stuttgart; and an uncle sponsoring his and his wife's emigration to the United States in 1949. Mr. A. notes reluctance to share his experiences after the war; suspending judgment of cruel kapos, regardless of their ethnicity, since they were trying to save their own lives; and testifying at a war crime trial in Germany. He shows photographs, documents, and a book written by his brother-in-law.
Extent and Medium
2 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
People
- A., Henry, -- 1922-
Corporate Bodies
- Bergen-Belsen (Concentration camp)
- Szebnie (Concentration camp)
- DP-Camp Bergen-Belsen.
- United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.
- American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.
- International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
- Poland. -- Polskie Siły Zbrojne. -- Armia Krajowa.
- Płaszów (Concentration camp)
- Auschwitz (Concentration camp)
- Laurahütte (Concentration camp)
- Mauthausen (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Jews -- Poland -- Rzeszów.
- Quarries and quarrying.
- Jewish ghettos.
- Jews -- Poland -- Jasło.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons, Soviet.
- Forced labor.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Escapes.
- Men.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Video tapes.
- Postwar experiences.
- Hiding.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Mutual aid.
- Soviet occupation.
- Refugee camps.
- War crime trials -- Germany.
- Death marches.
Places
- Jasło ghetto.
- Kraków (Poland)
- Stuttgart (Germany)
- Lʹviv (Ukraine)
- Jedlicze (Poland)
- Jasło (Poland)
- Poland.
- Rzeszów ghetto.
- Hannover (Germany : Concentration camp)
- Lʹvov (Ukraine)
- Lwów (Poland)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat