Alejandro and Victoria Z. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Alejandro Z., who was born near Pies?t?any, Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (presently Slovakia) in 1913, and his wife Victoria Z., who was born in Pies?t?any in 1910. Ms. Z., a Roman Catholic, recalls German occupation; her brother, who was the mayor, warning Jews of deportations and refusing to implement anti-Jewish measures; visiting her future husband, a Jew, when he was incarcerated; arranging the escape of her fiance?, his brother, and parents; finding a hiding place for them; arrest with them in October 1944; being sent to Ilava, then Brno; deportation to camps including Pankratz, Chemnitz, Leipzig, and Ravensbru?ck; slave labor in a munitions factory in Leipzig for seven months; escape with two others; hiding on farms; liberation by Soviet troops; returning home via Prague with assistance from the Red Cross; reunion with her fiance?; his imprisonment due to a former fascist who feared exposure; his escape to Vienna in 1949; and their emigration to Argentina. Mr. Z recalls attending Jewish and Czech schools; studying in Vienna; working in Bratislava; returning home; anti-Jewish measures after Slovak independence; his future wife and her family hiding him, his parents, and brother in 1944; their arrest; deportation to Gleiwitz, then Auschwitz; separation with his brother from his father (he never saw him again); slave labor; transfer with his brother to Gleiwitz; working as painters; receiving extra food from civilian workers; a death march in January 1945 to Blechhammer; liberation by Soviet troops; transfer to Cze?stochowa, then Krako?w; returning home in April 1945; his fiance?e's return; marriage; arrest in March 1948; escaping to Vienna; having his wife and children smuggled to Vienna; and their emigration to Argentina in 1952.
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
People
- Z., Victoria, -- 1910-
- Z., Alejandro, -- 1913-
Corporate Bodies
- Auschwitz (Concentration camp)
- Blechhammer E/3 (Concentration camp)
- International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
- Ravensbrück (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Mutual aid.
- Postwar experiences.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Hiding.
- Brothers.
- Death marches.
- Husband and wife.
- Forced labor.
- Escapes.
- Interfaith marriage.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Czech.
- Women.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Video tapes.
- Men.
- Concentration camp inmates.
- Holocaust survivors.
Places
- Kraków (Poland)
- Częstochowa (Poland)
- Gleiwitz (Poland : Concentration camp)
- Bratislava (Slovakia)
- Leipzig (Germany : Concentration camp)
- Chemnitz (Germany : Concentration camp)
- Piešt̕any (Slovakia)
- Austria.
- Vienna (Austria)
- Ilava (Slovakia)
- Prague (Czech Republic)
- Brno (Czech Republic)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat