Joseph and Renata S. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Joseph S. who was born in Korolevka, Ukraine in 1910 and Renata S. who was born in Lwo?w, Poland in 1924. Mrs. S. recalls childhood; Soviet occupation; German occupation; round-ups; fleeing to Skala; her father's deportation; meeting her husband; and their marriage. Mr. S. relates his privileged status as the only dentist in Skala; hiding family members with a patient; hiding with his wife in the Borshchov ghetto; a German officer warning them of round-ups; the killing of eight hundred Jews; and the mass grave exploding months later from decaying bodies. Mr. and Mrs. S. discuss the Judenrat; bunkers; the last Aktion when the town was declared Judenrein; smuggling themselves to Hungary; incarceration in Ma?ramarossziget; being freed because Mr. S. had a document from a Hungarian officer he had helped; moving to Budapest; obtaining false Christian papers; moving to a farm; the birth of their son; his baptism; and liberation by the Soviets. They describe moving to Vienna; emigration to the United States; adjustment difficulties; their daughter's birth; sadness and hate when recalling the deaths of so many children; the murder of their son several years ago, about which Mrs. S. wrote a poem; and her teaching about the Holocaust in the school where she works. Mrs. S. emphasizes suddenly feeling human again, upon arriving in Hungary, when she was no longer plagued by constant fear, hunger, lice, and filth.
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
- S., Renata, -- 1924-
- S., Joseph, -- 1910-
Subjects
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Poetry.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Psychological aspects.
- Jews -- Ukraine -- Borshchov.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities.
- Husband and wife.
- Jewish councils.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Study and teaching.
- Parent and child.
- Video tapes.
- Men.
- Holocaust survivors.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Jewish ghettos.
- Women.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Soviet occupation.
- Hiding.
- Jews -- Poland -- Lwów.
- Survivor-child relations.
- False papers.
- Mass killings.
- Bunkers.
Places
- Budapest (Hungary)
- Sighet (Romania)
- Vienna (Austria)
- Lwów (Poland)
- Lv́ov (Ukraine)
- Borshchov ghetto.
- Máramarossziget (Hungary)
- Lv́ov ghetto.
- Ukraine.
- Poland.
- Borshchov (Ukraine)
- Skala-Podilʹsʹka (Ukraine)
- Hungary.
- Lʹviv (Ukraine)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat