Edith P. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Edith P., who was born in Michalovce, Czechoslovakia 1920 and raised in Uz?h?horod. In an unusually poetic and expressive way, Mrs. P. describes her childhood in a middle class Jewish family; the Hungarian occupation in 1940-1941; anti-Jewish legislation; the indifference of her non-Jewish neighbors and friends; the deterioration of the Jewish situation under German occupation; the internment of her family in a brick factory outside her town; and their transfer two weeks later to Auschwitz. She recalls in detail the train ride to Auschwitz, then her arrival, upon which she was separated from her mother and taken to Block 23; and her reunion with her sister-in-law, who took her to Block 16 and thereby saved her life. She vividly details life in Auschwitz and tells of her and her sister-in-law's selection for slave labor in Salzwedel, northern Germany, where they worked as cooks for the SS. Mrs. P. also discusses her liberation by United States troops, including African-Americans; the loyalty and support she has received from her husband, enabling her to rebuild her life; and her distress at the world's, and her own, complacency while suffering and inhumanity continue.
Extent and Medium
2 videocassettes (3/4" u-matic)
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
- P., Edith, -- 1920-2010.
Corporate Bodies
- Auschwitz (Concentration camp)
- Salzwedel (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Concentration camp inmates -- Family relationships.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Concentration camps -- Sociological aspects.
- Hungarian occupation.
- Forced labor.
- Mutual aid.
- Video tapes.
- Women.
- Holocaust survivors.
Places
- Czechoslovakia.
- Uzď¸ h︥horod (Ukraine)
- Michalovce (Slovakia)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- ftamc