Jack W. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 0506
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Jack W., who was born in Velyikyy Bychkiv, Czechoslozakia (presently Ukraine) in approximately 1927, one of eleven children. He recalls his family's orthodoxy; Hungarian occupation; his father's and older brother's draft into Hungarian slave labor battalions; his father's release; German invasion; deportation with his family to the Ma?te?szalka ghetto in May 1944, then to Auschwitz six weeks later; selection for work with his father (his mother and younger siblings were killed); briefly seeing two older sisters; praying secretly daily; liquidation of the Zigeunerlager (Gypsy Lager); transfer eight days later to clear the Warsaw ghetto rubble; a death march and train transport to Dachau; transfer to Kaufering and Landshut, then back to Dachau; hospitalization with his father; his father's death; train evacuation; abandonment by the guards in Garmisch Partenkirchen; escaping; hiding in a barn; liberation by United States troops; hospitalization; reunion with a sister in Czechoslovakia, a brother in Sighet, and another sister in Velyikyy Bychkiv; moving to Hungary in 1946; meeting his future wife; traveling to Vienna; marriage; his daughter's birth; and emigration to the United States in 1950 to join his sister. Mr. W. discusses the physical and psychological impact of hunger; the importance of his father to his survival; not sharing his experiences; and his daughter's interest when she was older.

Extent and Medium

3 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

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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.