Mira B. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 0257
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Mira B., who was born in Vilna, Poland. She describes her parents who were both teachers in Jewish schools; her and her brother's education; their Zionist activities; the difficulties of life as Jews in Vilna; the outbreak of war; Russian occupation; the return of Vilna as capital of Lithuania; having to learn Lithuanian at the university; German occupation two years later; the first round-ups of Jews, including her brother, when they were taken to Ponary, forced to dig their own graves and shot; formation of the ghetto and the Judenrat; obtaining a job outside the ghetto due to her proficiency in Lithuanian and German; smuggling food which supported her parents for two years; the liquidation of the ghetto; her escape; entering Keilis, a fur factory where Jewish workers and their families were ghettoized because they were deemed vital to the German war effort; hiding there for nine months until its liquidation; escape with the help of a friendly Lithuanian; obtaining false papers; and living as a Christian for six months, which was extremely difficult. She recounts her return to Vilna after the war ended; involvement with illegal Jewish immigration; meeting her husband in Italy and their emigration to Palestine.

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. This testimony or excerpts from it cannot be used for advertising.

Rules and Conventions

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Process Info

  • compiled by Staff of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies

People

Subjects

Places

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.