Rachel O. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 0556
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Rachel O., who was born in Pabianice, Poland. She describes Zionist activities; marriage; German occupation; fleeing with her husband from ?o?dz? to Warsaw; their unsuccessful flight to the Soviet zone; a trip to Pabianice, posing as a German, to help her family; organizing a soup kitchen in the Warsaw ghetto; moving to the Pabianice ghetto with assistance from Polish acquaintances; transfer to the ?o?dz? ghetto; H?ayim Rumkowski's efforts to help children through the Judenrat; deportation to Auschwitz in September 1944; separation from her parents and husband (she never saw them again); transfer to an ammunition factory in Freiberg; hiding her pregnancy with assistance from fellow prisoners; giving birth in a train during evacuation in April 1945; and liberation from Mauthausen by United States troops on May 8, 1945. Mrs. O. recalls returning with her sisters and son to Pabianice; remarriage in Munich; and emigration to Israel in 1948. She discusses caring for three younger sisters in the camps and after liberation; sharing her experiences with grandchildren; and her belief that people did not change during the war, but exposed their true selves.

Extent and Medium

4 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

Corporate Bodies

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.