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  • Frima L. describes how her Holocaust experiences affect her life today

    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 how her Holocaust experiences affect her life today
  • Edward Adler describes arrest and imprisonment in prewar Germany for his relationship with a non-Jewish woman

    Oral History

    Edward was born to a Jewish family in Hamburg. In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws prohibited marriage or sexual relations between German non-Jews and Jews. Edward was then in his mid-twenties. Edward was arrested for dating a non-Jewish woman. Classified as a habitual offender, he was later deported to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, near Berlin. He was forced to perform hard labor in construction projects. Edward had married shortly before his imprisonment, and his wife made arrangements for their…

    Edward Adler describes arrest and imprisonment in prewar Germany for his relationship with a non-Jewish woman
  • Hanne Hirsch Liebmann describes the effects of Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass")

    Oral History

    Hanne's family owned a photographic studio. In October 1940, she and other family members were deported to the Gurs camp in southern France. In September 1941, the Children's Aid Society (OSE) rescued Hanne and she hid in a children's home in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. Her mother perished in Auschwitz. In 1943, Hanne obtained false papers and crossed into Switzerland. She married in Geneva in 1945 and had a daughter in 1946. In 1948, she arrived in the United States.

    Hanne Hirsch Liebmann describes the effects of Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass")
  • Johanna Gerechter Neumann describes anti-Jewish measures in Hamburg, Germany

    Oral History

    Amid intensifying anti-Jewish measures and the 1938 Kristallnacht ("Night of Broken Glass") pogrom, Johanna's family decided to leave Germany. They obtained visas for Albania, crossed into Italy, and sailed in 1939. They remained in Albania under the Italian occupation and, after Italy surrendered in 1943, under German occupation. The family was liberated after a battle between the Germans and Albanian partisans in December 1944.

    Johanna Gerechter Neumann describes anti-Jewish measures in Hamburg, Germany
  • Sam Spiegel describes life in a displaced persons camp

    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 describes life in a displaced persons camp
  • Nesse Galperin Godin describes her appearance at the time she was liberated

    Oral History

    Nesse's family had a dairy business. The Germans occupied Lithuania in 1941 and established a ghetto in Siauliai. Nesse lived in the ghetto until 1943 when she was old enough to work. In 1944 Nesse, her mother, and a brother were deported to the Stutthof camp near Danzig. Nesse worked in several Stutthof subcamps until January 1945, when the inmates were put on a death march. She was liberated by the Soviets in March. Nesse, her mother, and two brothers survived, and she arrived in the United States in…

    Nesse Galperin Godin describes her appearance at the time she was liberated
  • Nesse Galperin Godin describes seeing her reflection in a mirror upon liberation

    Oral History

    Nesse's family had a dairy business. The Germans occupied Lithuania in 1941 and established a ghetto in Siauliai. Nesse lived in the ghetto until 1943 when she was old enough to work. In 1944 Nesse, her mother, and a brother were deported to the Stutthof camp near Danzig. Nesse worked in several Stutthof subcamps until January 1945, when the inmates were put on a death march. She was liberated by the Soviets in March. Nesse, her mother, and two brothers survived, and she arrived in the United States in…

    Nesse Galperin Godin describes seeing her reflection in a mirror upon liberation
  • Fred Deutsch describes conditions in hiding place in forest

    Oral History

    Fred was born in Czechoslovakia in a town near the Polish border. Fred and his family were forced by the Germans to relocate east to a town bordering Slovakia. At the end of 1942, they escaped from the town and went into hiding. The family hid in bunkers in the forest until the end of the war. They moved every few weeks to avoid detection by the Germans or Slovak authorities. While the family was in hiding, Fred's grandfather made arrangements for Fred to attend school under an assumed name and religion. A…

    Fred Deutsch describes conditions in hiding place in forest
  • Felix Horn describes a hiding place in Warsaw

    Oral History

    Felix was born to an assimilated Jewish family in Lublin, Poland. His father was a locksmith and his mother was a singer. Following the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, Felix fled east to Rovno and then to Soviet-occupied Lvov, where he was accepted at a medical school. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Felix was taken to a labor camp. He escaped and returned to Lublin, and found that his family had been forced into the ghetto established there. After the…

    Tags: Warsaw hiding
    Felix Horn describes a hiding place in Warsaw
  • Alisa (Lisa) Nussbaum Derman describes going into hiding in June 1942 during roundups in the Slonim ghetto

    Oral History

    Lisa was one of three children born to a religious Jewish family. Following the German occupation of her hometown in 1939, Lisa and her family moved first to Augustow and then to Slonim (in Soviet-occupied eastern Poland). German troops captured Slonim in June 1941, during the invasion of the Soviet Union. In Slonim, the Germans established a ghetto which existed from 1941 to 1942. Lisa eventually escaped from Slonim, and went first to Grodno and then to Vilna, where she joined the resistance movement. She…

    Alisa (Lisa) Nussbaum Derman describes going into hiding in June 1942 during roundups in the Slonim ghetto
  • Lucine Horn describes obtaining false papers to assume the identity of an "Aryan" outside the Warsaw ghetto

    Oral History

    Lucine was born to a Jewish family in Lublin. Her father was a court interpreter and her mother was a dentist. War began with the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. Lucine's home was raided by German forces shortly thereafter. Soon after the German occupation of Lublin, Jews there were forced to wear a compulsory badge identifying them as Jews. A ghetto in Lublin was closed off in January 1942. Lucine survived a series of killing campaigns and deportations from the ghetto during March and…

    Lucine Horn describes obtaining false papers to assume the identity of an "Aryan" outside the Warsaw ghetto
  • Liny Pajgin Yollick describes how hiding their Jewish identity saved her family's life in Nice, France

    Oral History

    In May 1940, the Germans occupied the Netherlands. In 1942, it took Liny, her mother, and her sister six months to escape to southern France. They pretended to be Protestant, obtained visas to travel through Spain and Portugal, and were on one of the last trains to cross into Spain after the Germans took over southern France. They boarded a Portuguese ship bound for Dutch Guiana (Suriname). Liny was placed in a refugee camp, and then worked in the Dutch embassy in Washington D.C. She eventually settled in…

    Tags: hiding France
    Liny Pajgin Yollick describes how hiding their Jewish identity saved her family's life in Nice, France
  • Doriane Kurz describes how she and her brother were hidden

    Oral History

    Doriane's Jewish family fled to Amsterdam in 1940, a year that also saw the German occupation of the Netherlands. Her father perished after deportation to Auschwitz. After their mother was seized, Doriane and her brother hid with gentiles. The three were reunited at Bergen-Belsen, where they were deported via Westerbork. They were liberated during the camp's 1945 evacuation. Doriane's mother died of cancer soon after Doriane helped her recover from typhus. Doriane and her brother immigrated to the United…

    Doriane Kurz describes how she and her brother were hidden
  • Fred Deutsch describes some of the risks involved in hiding

    Oral History

    Fred was born in Czechoslovakia in a town near the Polish border. Fred and his family were forced by the Germans to relocate east to a town bordering Slovakia. At the end of 1942, they escaped from the town and went into hiding. The family hid in bunkers in the forest until the end of the war. They moved every few weeks to avoid detection by the Germans or Slovak authorities. While the family was in hiding, Fred's grandfather made arrangements for Fred to attend school under an assumed name and religion. A…

    Fred Deutsch describes some of the risks involved in hiding
  • Agate (Agi) Rubin describes the role of interpersonal bonds in surviving the Auschwitz camp

    Oral History

    In April 1944, after the German occupation of Hungary, Agi, her mother, six-year-old brother, and aunt were forced into the Munkacs ghetto. Before deportation to Auschwitz, Agi was forced to work in the ghetto's brick factory. At Auschwitz, Agi, then 14 years old, was chosen as part of a Sonderkommando. This forced-labor detachment had to sort the clothing and possessions of inmates and victims at Auschwitz. In January 1945, Agi and other prisoners were forced on a death march from Auschwitz. She was…

    Tags: Auschwitz
    Agate (Agi) Rubin describes the role of interpersonal bonds in surviving the Auschwitz camp
  • Bart Stern describes the role of friendships in survival at Auschwitz

    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…

    Tags: Auschwitz
    Bart Stern describes the role of friendships in survival at Auschwitz
  • Cecilie Klein-Pollack describes survival with her sister in Auschwitz

    Oral History

    Cecilie was the youngest of six children born to a religious, middle-class Jewish family. In 1939, Hungary occupied Cecilie's area of Czechoslovakia. Members of her family were imprisoned. The Germans occupied Hungary in 1944. Cecilie and her family had to move into a ghetto in Huszt and were later deported to Auschwitz. Cecilie and her sister were chosen for forced labor; the rest of her family was gassed upon arrival. Cecilie was transferred to several other camps, where she labored in factories. Allied…

    Tags: Auschwitz
    Cecilie Klein-Pollack describes survival with her sister in Auschwitz
  • Fritzie Weiss Fritzshall describes receiving help from a prisoner in the "Kanada" detail upon arrival at Auschwitz

    Oral History

    Fritzie's father immigrated to the United States, but by the time he could bring his family over, war had begun and Fritzie's mother feared attacks on transatlantic shipping. Fritzie, her mother, and two brothers were eventually sent to Auschwitz. Her mother and brothers died. Fritzie survived by pretending to be older than her age and thus a stronger worker. On a death march from Auschwitz, Fritzie ran into a forest, where she was later liberated.

    Fritzie Weiss Fritzshall describes receiving help from a prisoner in the "Kanada" detail upon arrival at Auschwitz
  • Ruth Webber describes escaping from a selection held in the Auschwitz infirmary

    Oral History

    Ruth was four years old when the Germans invaded Poland and occupied Ostrowiec. Her family was forced into a ghetto. Germans took over her father's photography business, although he was allowed to continue working outside the ghetto. Before the ghetto was liquidated, Ruth's parents sent her sister into hiding, and managed to get work at a labor camp outside the ghetto. Ruth also went into hiding, either in nearby woods or within the camp itself. When the camp was liquidated, Ruth's parents were split up.…

    Ruth Webber describes escaping from a selection held in the Auschwitz infirmary
  • Sam Spiegel describes hiding in woods before liberation

    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.

    Tags: hiding
    Sam Spiegel describes hiding in woods before liberation
  • Kate Bernath describes the psychology of survival in Auschwitz

    Oral History

    After the German invasion of Hungary in 1944, Kate and her family were deported first to the Kosice ghetto and then to the Auschwitz camp in Poland. Kate and other prisoners were sent on to the Plaszow camp, also in Poland. As partisan raids increased and the front drew closer, they were sent back to Auschwitz in August 1944. Kate was then selected for forced labor at a Messerschmidt factory in Augsburg, Germany. The prisoners were deported as Allied attacks intensified. Kate was eventually liberated after…

    Tags: Auschwitz
    Kate Bernath describes the psychology of survival in Auschwitz
  • Ruth Meyerowitz describes surviving a selection for the gas chamber

    Oral History

    In Frankfurt, Ruth's family faced intensifying anti-Jewish measures; her father's business was taken over and Ruth's Jewish school was closed. In April 1943, Ruth and her family were deported to Auschwitz. Ruth was selected for forced labor and assigned to work on road repairs. She also worked in the "Kanada" unit, sorting possessions brought into the camp. In November 1944, Ruth was transferred to the Ravensbrueck camp system, in Germany. She was liberated in May 1945, during a death march from the…

    Ruth Meyerowitz describes surviving a selection for the gas chamber
  • Cecilie Klein-Pollack describes mother's actions to save Cecilie's sister's life upon arrival at Auschwitz

    Oral History

    Cecilie was the youngest of six children born to a religious, middle-class Jewish family. In 1939, Hungary occupied Cecilie's area of Czechoslovakia. Members of her family were imprisoned. The Germans occupied Hungary in 1944. Cecilie and her family had to move into a ghetto in Huszt and were later deported to Auschwitz. Cecilie and her sister were chosen for forced labor; the rest of her family was gassed upon arrival. Cecilie was transferred to several other camps, where she labored in factories. Allied…

    Tags: Auschwitz
    Cecilie Klein-Pollack describes mother's actions to save Cecilie's sister's life upon arrival at Auschwitz
  • Ruth Webber describes her mother's efforts to ensure her children's survival

    Oral History

    Ruth was four years old when the Germans invaded Poland and occupied Ostrowiec. Her family was forced into a ghetto. Germans took over her father's photography business, although he was allowed to continue working outside the ghetto. Before the ghetto was liquidated, Ruth's parents sent her sister into hiding, and managed to get work at a labor camp outside the ghetto. Ruth also went into hiding, either in nearby woods or within the camp itself. When the camp was liquidated, Ruth's parents were split up.…

    Tags: children women
    Ruth Webber describes her mother's efforts to ensure her children's survival
  • Tomasz (Toivi) Blatt describes the Sobibor uprising

    Oral History

    Tomasz was born to a Jewish family in Izbica. After the war began in September 1939, the Germans established a ghetto in Izbica. Tomasz's work in a garage initially protected him from roundups in the ghetto. In 1942 he tried to escape to Hungary, using false papers. He was caught but managed to return to Izbica. In April 1943 he and his family were deported to the Sobibor killing center. Tomasz escaped during the Sobibor uprising. He went into hiding and worked as a courier in the Polish underground.

    Tomasz (Toivi) Blatt describes the Sobibor uprising

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