Wolf W. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 2989
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Wolf W., who was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1921. He recalls attending French school; speaking Yiddish at home; living in several European cities from 1929 to 1931; settling in Antwerp; antisemitism in school; apprenticing as a diamond cutter; German invasion; fleeing to Ghent, then Saint-Vincent; living with French farmers; his parents' internment in Re?ce?be?dou in spring 1942; visiting them; arrest; imprisonment in Caussade, whose police chief had tried to warn him to hide; internment in Septfonds, then Drancy; deportation to Janislawice (Johannisdorf); singing Yiddish songs with Polish prisoners; Jewish prisoners fasting on Yom Kippur; transfer to Blechhammer; receiving help from British POWs; smuggling food from his work detail, which was outside the camp; sadistic public hangings; receiving one package from his mother; Karl Demerer's (the Jewish head) efforts to help inmates; the death march to Gross-Rosen in January 1945; evacuation to Buchenwald; another death march; transfer to Oranienburg; hiding during the evacuation; liberation by Polish troops; transfer to an American displaced persons camp; repatriation to Brussels; and reunion with his mother. Mr W. insightfully discusses intergroup relationships in the camps; efforts to raise morale; and paralysis of body and spirit resulting from humiliation.

Extent and Medium

6 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

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Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.