Esther G. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 1434
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Esther G., who was born in Mutvitsa, Poland (presently Ukraine) in 1934. She recalls the warmth of Sabbath observance; Soviet occupation; German invasion; anti-Jewish restrictions resulting in a sense of isolation; her mother arranging for a farmer to hide Mrs. G. and her brothers; betrayal by the farmer; a German guard letting her go (she never saw her brothers again); being hidden again by the same farmer who had betrayed her; retrieval by her mother, who escaped the ghetto's liquidation (her father was killed); posing as a Christian; hiding in several places while her mother was in the partisans; efforts to conceal but not forget her Jewish identity; and constant fear and loneliness. Mrs. G. recounts evacuation to German camps as the Soviets advanced; reunion with her mother; continued anxiety about revealing her Jewish identity; living with a non-Jewish family in Pinsk; her mother's remarriage; emigration to Austria; living in the Bindermichl displaced persons camp where she started school and began to "sort things out"; emigration to the United States in 1949; and her inability to discuss her experience until 1985.

Extent and Medium

2 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

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.