Jacques G. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Jacques G., who was born in Athens, Greece in 1912. He recalls moving to Thessalonike?; his father's Italian citizenship; German invasion; marriage in 1943; moving to Athens with his family due to their citizenship; benign conditions under Italian occupation; Italian capitulation in fall 1943; deportation with his family to Auschwitz in April 1944; selection with his brother for the Sonderkommando; working with him in Crematorium II moving bodies; a friend committing suicide on an open pyre; visiting his wife twice in the women's camp; bringing her food; recognizing two cousins who were to be gassed; giving them food and telling them where to stand in the gas chamber to avoid pain; placing their ashes in labeled jars; the October 1944 uprising in Crematorium IV; having to cremate the bodies of those who revolted; surreptitiously joining the death march in January 1944 (he and his group were to be killed); incarceration in Mauthausen and Gusen; liberation in May; returning to Greece; reunion with his wife; and emigration to Israel in 1949. Mr. G. discusses camaraderie within the Sonderkommando; prisoners who prayed daily; his optimism; keeping a diary which he left in Auschwitz; and sharing his story with his daughter and grandchildren.

2 videocassettes