Shevah W. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Shevah W., who was born in Boryslav, Poland (presently Ukraine) in 1935, the youngest of three children. He recalls a wonderful childhood in a large extended family; family picnics in Truskavet?s??; Soviet occupation; German invasion in 1941; hiding with his family in their basement during a pogrom by Ukrainians, during which his maternal grandmother was killed; later hiding with Ukranians and Poles in several locations; ghettoization; his father building a false wall in his workshop; hiding there for seven months with his family, an aunt, and cousin; a Ukrainian woman bringing them food and water; moving to a bunker in the basement fearing discovery; the woman continuing to supply them; liberation almost two years later by Soviet troops in August 1944; an uncle, his wife, and two children returning from hiding in the forests, then an uncle and cousin who had been in a concentration camp; a family friend committing suicide (his wife and children had been killed); moving to Gliwice intending to emigrate to Palestine; his brother's departure to emigrate; traveling with his parents and sister to the Rothschild displaced persons camp in Vienna via Bratislava; joining Hashomer Hatzair; he and his sister joining their brother in Milan (his parents remained in Austria due to his father's illness); his brother's departure for Palestine; he and his sister moving to a youth house in Rome; his illegal emigration to Palestine via Naples and Genoa; attending school; and his parents and sister arriving in about 1952. Mr. W. discusses his integration into Israeli society; not sharing his experiences due to lack of interest by Israelis; trips to Poland and Germany; and his political philosophy and career.

6 videocassettes