Maria G. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Maria G., who was born in Zhornishche, Ukraine in 1928. She recalls her family's move to Kiev in 1934 due to the famine; attending a Ukrainian school; German invasion in 1941; her father's draft; German occupation in September; the order for all Jews to assemble on Melnikov Square on September 29; losing her mother and younger siblings en route to Babi Yar; watching the shooting of all Jews; her terror and fear; moving out of line with her neighbor's daughter; pretending to be Ukrainian sisters, with assistance from a Ukrainian translator; hiding with their Ukrainian neighbor, Olga R.; obtaining false papers with help from Olga and another neighbor; fearing exposure, fleeing to Kharkiv, posing as non-Jews; joining Soviet troops; marriage, and eventual reunion with her father in Kiev. Mrs. G. discusses the importance of help from non-Jews; her continuing emotional trauma and illnesses resulting from her experiences, including nightmares; bearing these memories in silence for fifty-three years due to Soviet policy; and the impossibility of describing the horror of the massacre. Part of the testimony is recorded at her hiding place and Babi Yar, as Mrs. G. reconstructs her experiences.

4 videocassettes