Alter W. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 1729
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Alter W., who was born in Chrzano?w, Poland in 1926. He recalls his family's affluence; his mother's death when he was four; his father's remarriage; antisemitic harassment; German invasion; fleeing east with his stepmother, older brother, and younger half-brother; returning home three months later (his father had disappeared in their absence); finding his father's corpse when it was exhumed from a mass grave; his older brother's deportation in 1941; his deportation to Blechhammer; meeting his brother there; slave labor; transfer to Brande; separation from his brother (he never saw him again); slave labor on the Reichsautobahn; transfer to Gross Masselwitz, Klettendorf, then Waldenburg; a German civilian worker bringing him extra food; contemplating suicide; liberation by Soviet troops in May 1945; recuperating in a sanatorium; returning home; learning three cousins from his family of 120 had survived; illegally traveling to Italy with assistance from the Jewish brigade; illegal emigration to Palestine; imprisonment by the British; military service in the 1948 war; marriage in 1952; the births of two sons; and emigration to the United States in 1960. Mr. W. discusses focusing only on food and survival in the camps, and his loneliness and isolation after the war.

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

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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.