Solomon R. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Solomon R., who was born in Komarov, Poland (presently Ukraine) in 1920. He recalls moving to ?o?dz? when he was seven; working from age twelve onward; German invasion; attempting to reach Warsaw; capture by Germans; train transport to Germany, then back to Poland two weeks later; forced labor in Krako?w; being released; returning to ?o?dz?; ghettoization; frequent shootings; difficulty obtaining food; volunteering for forced labor in Germany so his family would receive compensation; working in Frankfurt an-der-Oder from December 1940 onward; transfer to a factory near Berlin; the factory foreman's efforts to obtain more food for the workers; transport to Birkenau, Auschwitz, then the I.G. Farben factory in Monowitz; participating in boxing matches with other prisoners, which saved his life and allowed him to help other prisoners; weekly selections from which he saved two boys (he met one in the United States); the death march in January 1945 to Gleiwitz; hiding to escape further deportation; and liberation by Soviet troops. Mr. R. describes returning to ?o?dz?; fleeing to Germany; living in the Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp; marriage in Feldafing; and emigration to the United States in 1949.
Extent and Medium
2 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.
Rules and Conventions
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Process Info
compiled by Staff of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
People
- R., Solomon, -- 1920-
Corporate Bodies
- Birkenau (Concentration camp)
- Monowitz (Concentration camp)
- Interessengemeinschaft Farbenindustrie Aktiengesellschaft.
- DP-Camp Bergen-Belsen.
- Auschwitz (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Forced labor.
- Jews -- Poland -- Łódź.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Video tapes.
- Men.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Postwar experiences.
- Mutual aid.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Refugee camps.
- Death marches.
- Concentration camps -- Sociological aspects.
- Boxing -- Poland -- Auschwitz (Concentration camp)
- Jewish ghettos.
Places
- Łódź ghetto.
- Feldafing (Germany : Refugee camp)
- Komarov (Ukraine)
- Gleiwitz (Poland : Concentration camp)
- Frankfurt an der Oder (Germany)
- Kraków (Poland)
- Łódź (Poland)
- Poland.
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat