Gertrúda M. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Gertrúda M., who was born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia in 1923. She recalls her father's death; leaving school in 1937 due to anti-Jewish measures; living on a Hashomer Hatzair farm in preparation to live in Palestine; moving to Melčice to help her grandmother in 1942; learning of impending deportations from Hashomer Hatzair; traveling to Budapest; being joined by her mother and sister; obtaining a false document; their arrest in 1943; transfer to Ricse; her sister's release; transfer with her mother to Nagykanizsa; their deportation to Birkenau; help from women from her mother's hometown; assignment to the Canada Kommando; volunteering for a more privileged group; their transfer to Rajsko; improved conditions; strained relations with Ukrainian prisoners; the death march in January 1945; train transport to Ravensbrück; their transfer to Malchow in March; desertion by the guards; assistance from Canadian POWs and United States troops; traveling to Brno; finding her sister; and returning to Bratislava. Ms. M. discusses details of camp life; gradually sharing her experience with her daughter; and painful memories during a recent trip to Auschwitz. She shows photographs.

2 videocassettes