Anita S. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Anita S., who was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia in 1930. She recalls her family's affluence; German occupation; confiscation of their house; her mother bribing an official to avoid the family's deportation; her uncle's suicide in 1940; deportation with her family to Theresienstadt in 1942; living with her mother and brother; participating in organized activities, including an opera; their transfer to Auschwitz in 1943; assignment to Birkenau's family camp; her father's transfer to Germany in 1944; separation from her mother and brother (she never saw them again); transfer to Hamburg; arduous forced labor; being "adopted" by Czech prisoners; Allied bombardments; receiving food and a birthday treat from a German soldier; transfer to Bergen-Belsen; horrendous conditions; witnessing cannibalism; and liberation by British troops. Mrs. S. recounts transport to Prague; living in an orphanage; learning her father had been killed; attending art school; joining Haganah; emigrating to Israel in 1948; fighting in the Israel-Arab War; her son's birth; and moving to the United States. She discusses pervasive fear in the camps; shielding her mother; anger that none of her family survived; and regrets that she has not told her son enough about her experiences. She shows photographs.
Extent and Medium
2 videocassettes (3/4" u-matic)
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
- S., Anita, -- 1930-
Corporate Bodies
- Haganah (Organization)
- Birkenau (Concentration camp)
- Bergen-Belsen (Concentration camp)
- Theresienstadt (Concentration camp)
- Auschwitz (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Women.
- Video tapes.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Children.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Forced labor.
- Family.
- Concentration camps -- Sociological aspects.
- Concentration camps -- Songs and music.
- Concentration camp inmates -- Family relationships.
- Concentration camps -- Psychological aspects.
- Cannibalism.
- Israel-Arab War, 1948-1949.
- Child survivors.
- Orphanages -- Czech Republic.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Mutual aid.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Postwar experiences.
Places
- Brno (Czech Republic)
- Czechoslovakia.
- Israel.
- Hamburg (Germany)
- Prague (Czech Republic)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat