Alexander R. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Alexander R., who was born in ?o?dz?, Poland in 1926. He recalls attending an orthodox school; pervasive antisemitism; his family's relative affluence; German invasion; briefly moving to Opato?w; a mass shooting which included his father; ghettoization; small favors from H?ayim Rumkowski due to his father's killing; slave labor in a clothing factory; his mother and brother being taken in the round-up of the children; joining them with his sister; their escape; hiding during subsequent round-ups; his mother and brother being listed for deportation; using their influence with Rumkowski to get their mother out; his brother's release later; continuing to hide during round-ups; being caught; train transport to Auschwitz; separation from his brother; clandestinely joining his brother's group; their transfer to a nearby farm; a death march, then train transfer to Buchenwald, Weimar, then Theresienstadt; liberation by Soviet troops; finding food in Litome?r?ice; being sent to Windermere via Prague; transfer to an orthodox hostel in London after three months; his brother's emigration to Israel; learning cutting, designing, and tailoring; visiting relatives in Canada; marriage in 1953; and raising three children. Mr. R. discusses his vain attempts to find his mother and sister; and Rumkowski's actions. He shows photographs.
Extent and Medium
3 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. This testimony cannot be used for commercial purposes.
Rules and Conventions
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Process Info
compiled by Staff of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
People
- R., Alexander, -- 1926-
- Rumkowski, Mordecai Ḥayim.
Corporate Bodies
- Theresienstadt (Concentration camp)
- Buchenwald (Concentration camp)
- Auschwitz (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Postwar experiences.
- Hiding.
- Mutual aid.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Children.
- Jewish children in the Holocaust.
- Jewish ghettos.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Video tapes.
- Men.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Death marches.
- Child survivors.
- Antisemitism -- Prewar.
- Mass killings.
- Jews -- Poland -- Łódź.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities.
- Forced labor.
- Brothers.
Places
- Opatów (Tarnobrzeg, Poland)
- Poland.
- Łódź (Poland)
- London (England)
- Windermere (England)
- Prague (Czech Republic)
- Litoměřice (Czech Republic)
- Weimar (Germany : Concentration camp)
- Łódź ghetto.
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat