David E. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of David E., who was born in Gherla, Romania in 1926, one of five children. He recounts his family's long history there; a large extended family; Hungarian occupation in 1941; anti-Jewish laws; expulsion from school; two years training as a furniture maker; deportation to a ghetto in 1944, then to Auschwitz after four weeks; separation from his family (he never saw them again); volunteering as a cabinet maker, which saved his life; improved conditions and additional food; receiving extra food and a better assignment from an SS man; friendship with a co-worker (they remain friends to the present); the death march in winter 1945; separation from his friend; transport to Mauthausen, Melk (his brothers had just perished there), then Ebensee; encountering people from his hometown; liberation by United States troops; returning home; reunion with his sister; traveling to Budapest with Berih?ah; leaving due to his lack of Zionist aspirations; traveling to Paris; working as a cabinet maker; emigration to Canada in 1947; assistance from the Canadian Jewish Congress; and bringing his sister and her family there in 1950. Mr. E. notes he told his story once to his wife and has not shared it with his children.
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.
Rules and Conventions
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Process Info
compiled by Staff of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
People
- E., David, -- 1926-
Corporate Bodies
- Melk (Concentration camp)
- Mauthausen (Concentration camp)
- BerihĚŁah (Organization)
- Ebensee (Concentration camp)
- Auschwitz (Concentration camp)
- Canadian Jewish Congress.
Subjects
- Hungarian occupation.
- Postwar experiences.
- Friendship.
- Forced labor.
- Survivor-child relations.
- Death marches.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Jewish ghettos.
- Men.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Video tapes.
Places
- Gherla (Romania)
- Paris (France)
- Budapest (Hungary)
- Romania.
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat