Leslie K. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Leslie K., who was born in Berlin, Germany in 1927. He recalls growing up in Oradea; antisemitism; Hungarian occupation; anti-Jewish laws; German occupation in April 1944; ghettoization; deportation to Auschwitz/Birkenau; remaining with his brother and a cousin; slave labor in a coal mine; learning about the extermination process, but repressing it; extermination of the Zigeunerlager (Gypsy Lager); difficulty communicating with other prisoners since he did not speak Yiddish; learning of the Sonderkommando revolt from an escapee (a former teacher) who joined his barrack; public hanging of a group organizing an uprising; sharing stolen food with his cousin and brother; evacuation to Gross-Rosen, then Dachau in January 1945; transfer a month later to Waldlager; hospitalization; his brother smuggling food to him; evacuation of his brother and cousin; liberation by United States troops; a long recovery; reunion with his brother (his cousin was killed); traveling to Budapest to join their uncle; returning to Oradea; learning their sister had perished; fleeing to refugee camps in the American zone; emigration to the United States; marriage to a survivor; and serving in the U.S. military. Mr. K. discusses camp life, including preoccupation with food (mentally cooking); his emotional letdown after liberation; and nightmares. He shows photographs.

3 videocassettes