<p>A transport of Jewish prisoners forced to march through the snow from the Bauschovitz train station to <a href="/narrative/5386">Theresienstadt</a>. Czechoslovakia, 1942.</p>

Oral History

Browse an alphabetical list of survivors’ oral histories. These interviews describe firsthand accounts and personal experiences during the Holocaust and World War II.

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| Displaying results 301-310 of 572 for "Oral History" |

  • Leah Hammerstein Silverstein describes the Tarnow ghetto after a roundup

    Oral History

    Leah grew up in Praga, a suburb of Warsaw, Poland. She was active in the Ha-Shomer ha-Tsa'ir Zionist youth movement. Germany invaded Poland in September 1939. Jews were forced to live in the Warsaw ghetto, which the Germans sealed off in November 1940. In the ghetto, Leah lived with a group of Ha-Shomer ha-Tsa'ir members. In September 1941, she and other members of the youth group escaped from the ghetto to a Ha-Shomer ha-Tsa'ir farm in Zarki, near Czestochowa, Poland. In May 1942, Leah became a courier…

    Leah Hammerstein Silverstein describes the Tarnow ghetto after a roundup
  • Leah Hammerstein Silverstein describes working under a false non-Jewish identity in a German hospital in Krakow

    Oral History

    Leah grew up in Praga, a suburb of Warsaw, Poland. She was active in the Ha-Shomer ha-Tsa'ir Zionist youth movement. Germany invaded Poland in September 1939. Jews were forced to live in the Warsaw ghetto, which the Germans sealed off in November 1940. In the ghetto, Leah lived with a group of Ha-Shomer ha-Tsa'ir members. In September 1941, she and other members of the youth group escaped from the ghetto to a Ha-Shomer ha-Tsa'ir farm in Zarki, near Czestochowa, Poland. In May 1942, Leah became a courier…

    Tags: Kraków hiding
    Leah Hammerstein Silverstein describes working under a false non-Jewish identity in a German hospital in Krakow
  • Leif Donde describes his family's escape from Denmark to Sweden

    Oral History

    The Germans occupied Denmark in April 1940, but the Danish government remained in existence and was able to protect Danish Jews. In August 1943, the government resigned after refusing to accede to German demands. German police began to arrest Jews in early October. Leif and his family decided to flee, and were smuggled by fishing boat to safety in Sweden. In Sweden, Leif attended school and his parents worked in a garment factory. The family returned to Denmark after the end of the war.

    Leif Donde describes his family's escape from Denmark to Sweden
  • Leo Bretholz describes arrival at the Drancy camp

    Oral History

    After the Germans annexed Austria in 1938, Leo attempted to flee. He eventually reached Belgium. In 1940 he was deported to the St.-Cyprien camp in France but escaped. In 1942 Leo was smuggled into Switzerland but was arrested and sent back to France, this time to the Rivesaltes and Drancy camps. He and a friend escaped from a train deporting them to Auschwitz in Poland. Leo joined the French underground in 1943. He arrived in the United States in 1947.

    Tags: camps Drancy
    Leo Bretholz describes arrival at the Drancy camp
  • Leo Bretholz describes conditions in the Drancy camp

    Oral History

    After the Germans annexed Austria in 1938, Leo attempted to flee. He eventually reached Belgium. In 1940 he was deported to the St.-Cyprien camp in France but escaped. In 1942 Leo was smuggled into Switzerland but was arrested and sent back to France, this time to the Rivesaltes and Drancy camps. He and a friend escaped from a train deporting them to Auschwitz in Poland. Leo joined the French underground in 1943. He arrived in the United States in 1947.

    Tags: camps Drancy
    Leo Bretholz describes conditions in the Drancy camp
  • Leo Bretholz describes his escape from a train during deportation from the Drancy camp

    Oral History

    After the Germans annexed Austria in 1938, Leo attempted to flee. He eventually reached Belgium. In 1940 he was deported to the St.-Cyprien camp in France but escaped. In 1942 Leo was smuggled into Switzerland but was arrested and sent back to France, this time to the Rivesaltes and Drancy camps. He and a friend escaped from a train deporting them to Auschwitz in Poland. Leo joined the French underground in 1943. He arrived in the United States in 1947.

    Leo Bretholz describes his escape from a train during deportation from the Drancy camp
  • Leo Bretholz describes resistance training and activities in a French underground group he joined in 1943

    Oral History

    After the Germans annexed Austria in 1938, Leo attempted to flee. He eventually reached Belgium. In 1940 he was deported to the St.-Cyprien camp in France but escaped. In 1942 Leo was smuggled into Switzerland but was arrested and sent back to France, this time to the Rivesaltes and Drancy camps. He and a friend escaped from a train deporting them to Auschwitz in Poland. Leo joined the French underground in 1943. He arrived in the United States in 1947.

    Leo Bretholz describes resistance training and activities in a French underground group he joined in 1943
  • Leo Diamantstein describes Nazi marches and the Hitler Youth

    Oral History

    Joseph Leo Diamantstein was born in Heidelberg, Germany, on December 1, 1924, to Jewish parents. He was the youngest of four children. His family experienced antisemitism in Frankfurt, and ultimately decided to leave Germany.  Beginning in 1933, the Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls had an important role to play in the new Nazi regime. Through these organizations, the Nazi regime planned to indoctrinate young people with Nazi ideology. This was part of the process of Nazifying German…

    Leo Diamantstein describes Nazi marches and the Hitler Youth
  • Leo Kutner describes forced labor in Stutthof

    Oral History

    Leo was arrested on the first day of the war, and assigned to forced labor in a shipyard, then on a farm. In 1940, like other Jews, he was deported to Stutthof. There, he upholstered furniture for the SS. The following year, he was sent to Auschwitz, where he cleaned the streets and dug ditches. As the Allies neared, Leo was evacuated to a series of camps. On a death march from Flossenbürg, the Nazis dispersed, allowing Leo and other prisoners to get away. He was liberated by US forces in April 1945.

    Leo Kutner describes forced labor in Stutthof
  • Leo Melamed describes fear after German occupation of Bialystok

    Oral History

    Leo was seven years old when Germany invaded Poland in September 1939. Before the war, Leo's father was a mathematics teacher and member of the Bialystok City Council. Fearing arrest, Leo's father fled Bialystok for Vilna just before the German occupation. Leo and his mother eventually joined his father in Vilna. After the Soviets occupied Vilna, Leo's father obtained transit visas to Japan. The family left Vilna in December 1940, traveled across the Soviet Union on the Trans-Siberian Express, and arrived…

    Leo Melamed describes fear after German occupation of Bialystok

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