Category: Oral History

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  • Sam Spiegel reflects on survival during the Holocaust

    Oral History

    In 1942, Sam was forced into a ghetto in his hometown and assigned to work in a munitions factory. In 1944 he was transported to Auschwitz and then forced to work in a train factory. He survived eight days on a death march after the evacuation of Auschwitz by the Nazis. He was liberated by Soviet units in January 1945. He lived in a displaced persons camp in Germany where worked for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. In 1947, he immigrated to the United States.

    Sam Spiegel reflects on survival during the Holocaust
  • Frima L. describes roundup of Jews for mobile killing unit (Einsatzgruppen) massacre

    Oral History

    While Frima's family was confined to a ghetto, Nazis used her father as an interpreter. He later perished. By pretending not to be Jews, Frima, her mother, and sister escaped a German mobile killing unit massacre. They were later discovered and jailed. Again, her mother devised an escape. Frima's mother and sister were smuggled to Romania, while Frima wandered in search of safekeeping until her mother could arrange to smuggle her out. In Romania, they were reunited and liberated.

    Frima L. describes roundup of Jews for mobile killing unit (Einsatzgruppen) massacre
  • Bart Stern describes how he survived to be liberated in the Auschwitz camp

    Oral History

    Following the German occupation of Hungary in March 1944, Bart was forced into a ghetto established in his home town. From May to July 1944, the Germans deported Jews from Hungary to the Auschwitz killing center in occupied Poland. Bart was deported by cattle car to Auschwitz. At Auschwitz, he was selected to perform forced labor, drilling and digging in a coal mine. As Soviet forces advanced toward the Auschwitz camp in January 1945, the Germans forced most of the prisoners on a death march out of the…

    Bart Stern describes how he survived to be liberated in the Auschwitz camp
  • Gerda Weissmann Klein describes her liberation by a US soldier after a death march in Czechoslovakia

    Oral History

    In 1939, Gerda's brother was deported for forced labor. In June 1942, Gerda's family was deported from the Bielsko ghetto. While her parents were transported to Auschwitz, Gerda was sent to the Gross-Rosen camp system, where for the remainder of the war she performed forced labor in textile factories. Gerda was liberated after a death march, wearing the ski boots her father insisted would help her to survive. She married her American liberator.

    Gerda Weissmann Klein describes her liberation by a US soldier after a death march in Czechoslovakia
  • Kurt Klein describes a group of death march survivors in a Czechoslovak village

    Oral History

    As Nazi anti-Jewish policy intensified, Kurt's family decided to leave Germany. Kurt left for the United States in 1937, but his parents were unable to leave before the outbreak of World War II. Kurt's parents were eventually deported to Auschwitz, in German-occupied Poland. In 1942, Kurt joined the United States Army and was trained in military intelligence. In Europe, he interrogated prisoners of war. In May 1945, he took part in the surrender of a village in Czechoslovakia and returned the next day to…

    Kurt Klein describes a group of death march survivors in a Czechoslovak village
  • Sam Itzkowitz describes the first moments of liberation

    Oral History

    The Germans invaded Poland in September 1939. When Makow was occupied, Sam fled to Soviet territory. He returned to Makow for provisions, but was forced to remain in the ghetto. In 1942, he was deported to Auschwitz. As the Soviet army advanced in 1944, Sam and other prisoners were sent to camps in Germany. The inmates were put on a death march early in 1945. American forces liberated Sam after he escaped during a bombing raid.

    Tags: liberation
    Sam Itzkowitz describes the first moments of liberation
  • Abraham Lewent describes the moments following his liberation from a death march from the Dachau camp

    Oral History

    Like many other Jews, the Lewents were confined to the Warsaw ghetto. In 1942, as Abraham hid in a crawl space, the Germans seized his mother and sisters in a raid. They perished. He was deployed for forced labor nearby, but escaped to return to his father in the ghetto. In 1943, the two were deported to Majdanek, where Abraham's father died. Abraham later was sent to Skarzysko, Buchenwald, Schlieben, Bisingen, and Dachau. US troops liberated Abraham as the Germans evacuated prisoners.

    Abraham Lewent describes the moments following his liberation from a death march from the Dachau camp
  • Alan Zimm describes liberation from Bergen-Belsen

    Oral History

    The Germans occupied Kolo in 1939. In 1942 Alan was deported to the Lodz ghetto where he worked in food distribution. He took food each day to Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski, chairman of the Jewish council. In 1944 Alan was forced to unload trainloads of coal and munitions in Czestochowa. In 1945 he was sent to the Dora-Mittelbau camp. As the Soviet army advanced, the inmates were transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where British forces liberated them in April.

    Alan Zimm describes liberation from Bergen-Belsen
  • US nurse Pat Lynch describes condition of surviving camp inmates upon liberation

    Oral History

    Pat was one of thousands of US nurses who served in evacuation hospitals during the liberation of concentration camps in Europe. She cared for camp survivors, many of whom were in critical condition upon liberation.

    US nurse Pat Lynch describes condition of surviving camp inmates upon liberation
  • US nurse Pat Lynch describes the establishment of a hospital to care for liberated camp survivors

    Oral History

    Pat was one of thousands of US nurses who served in evacuation hospitals during the liberation of concentration camps in Europe. She cared for camp survivors, many of whom were in critical condition upon liberation.

    US nurse Pat Lynch describes the establishment of a hospital to care for liberated camp survivors

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