Sonia G. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Sonia G., who was born in Poland in 1924. She recalls a sheltered childhood in an affluent home; her father wanting to emigrate but her mother's reluctance to leave her family; German occupation in 1939; her uncle being beaten to death by German soldiers; Czech Jews and those from surrounding towns being relocated to their town; ghettoization; her mother's illness; omnipresent fear; being rounded-up with her father in May 1943 (her mother and sister were hiding); guards brutally murdering crying babies en route to the trains; deportation with her father and cousin to Majdanek; transfer to Auschwitz; a privileged job in the kitchen; sharing extra food with others; observing Rosh ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur; a last visit with her father who told her her mother and sister were dead, said farewell, and urged her to live; emotional numbness; improved conditions working in a munitions factory; a death march in January 1945 to Ravensbru?ck, then Leipzig; liberation by United States troops; working for the Soviets; and returning home via ?o?dz?. Ms. G. discusses the importance of luck to her survival; painful, recurring memories of murdered babies and her father's last words; and becoming emotionally cold due to her experiences, except regarding children.

2 videocassettes