William Eisen testimony

Identifier
irn504171
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 1994.A.0055
  • RG-02.136
Dates
1 Jan 1956 - 31 Dec 1956
Level of Description
Item
Source
EHRI Partner

Web Source

https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn504171

Extent and Medium

folders

2

Creator(s)

  • William Eisen

Biographical History

William Eisen (1920-2008) was born Wolf Ajzowicz on 25 July 1920 in Książ Wielki, Poland to Symcha and Miriam Ajzowicz. He grew up in Miechów, Poland and had four brothers: Alter, Israel, Lemuel, and Maier; and one sister, Sara. William was a survivor of camps in Kraków, Plaszow, Skarzysko, Czestochowa and Buchenwald. His entire family perished during the Holocaust. He immigrated to the United States in 1947 and settled in New York where he worked as a tailor.

Archival History

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Acquisition

A copy of Eisen's memoir, originally written in 1956, was forwarded to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives in Sept. 1993 by the director of the Holocaust Resource Center of Buffalo, N.Y.

Scope and Content

The memoir describes the experiences of William Eisen and members of his family during the Holocaust and relates the attempts of surviving family members to rebuild their lives afterwards. The first part of the memoir portrays the persecution and killing of Polish Jews, including members of Eisen's family, and conditions that the author experienced inside the ghetto in Miechów, Poland, and the concentration camps of Julag I and II, Kraków-Płaszów, Skarżysko-Kamienna, Rakow (a.k.a. Rakov), and an unnamed subcamp of Buchenwald. The latter part of the memoir depicts Eisen's life inside the British displaced persons camp at Judenburg, Austria, and his emigration to the United States.

People

  • Eisen, William, 1920-

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

  • Jewish ghettos--Poland--Miechów.
  • Jews--Persecutions--Poland.
  • Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives.
  • World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps.
  • United States--Emigration and immigration.
  • Miechów Lubelski (Poland)
  • Judenburg (Austria : Refugee camp)
  • Poland--History--Occupation, 1939-1945.

Genre

  • Memoirs.
  • Document
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.