Leopold S. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Leopold S., who was born in Sládkovičovo, Czechoslovakia (presently Slovakia) in 1927, the older of two sons. He recalls his grandparents living with them; looting of Jewish property during the Hungarian occupation in 1938; his father's death in 1939; he and his brother working as landscapers; deportation with his family to Galanta in May 1944; transfer to Nové Zámky, then Auschwitz/Birkenau two weeks later; separation from his family (he never saw them again); claiming to be older to join an older group (no one from the younger group survived); transfer to Melk; slave labor in an airplane factory; breaking his leg; hospitalization; transfer to Ebensee in December; liberation by United States troops in May; assignment to a displaced persons camp in Linz; returning home via Prague and Bratislava; joining an uncle in Budapest; volunteering for military service in 1949; serving until 1953; marriage; and the births of two sons. Mr. S. discusses the trauma of separation from his family; the importance to his survival of being with a strong friend and not losing hope; painful memories when visiting Birkenau and Mauthausen; and not sharing details of his experiences with his children.

2 videocassettes