Pavel G. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Pavel G., who was born in Bánovce nad Bebravou, Czechoslovakia (presently Slovakia), in 1935 to an assimilated family. He recalls sensing malaise when his parents listened to the radio; confiscation of his father's carpentry business due to anti-Jewish laws; his sister's birth in 1942; deportation with his family to Sered three months later; exemption from further deportation due to his father's skills; deportation of his grandmother and aunt (they did not survive); cruelty by the Hlinka guards; a policeman freeing them in August 1944 due to the Slovak uprising; returning to Bánovce; locals with whom they entrusted their possessions refusing to return them, except for their Romani neighbor; staying with a Jewish family in Žitná; arrival of Germans; hiding in mountain bunkers; capture by German troops; return to Sered; separation from his father; deportation with his mother and sister to Theresienstadt; assignment to a children's barrack; attending a kindergarten and theatrical performances; extreme cold, hunger, and many deaths; liberation; quarantine for six weeks; assistance from UNRRA; traveling to Bratislava; reunion with his father; returning to Bánovce; moving to Bratislava due to antisemitism; completing school, then university; his career as a geologist; marriage, and the births of two children. Mr. G. discusses his father's postwar depression, resulting in his hosptialization (he had been in Sachsenhausen and Oranienburg); his mother's entire family being killed; and not sharing his experiences with his children.

1 videocassette