Category: Oral History

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  • Doriane Kurz describes appell (roll call) in Bergen-Belsen

    Oral History

    Doriane's Jewish family fled to Amsterdam in 1940, the same year Germany occupied the Netherlands. Her father died 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, when Doriane was 9. Her mother died of cancer soon after Doriane helped her recover from typhus. Doriane and her brother immigrated to the United States.

    Doriane Kurz describes appell (roll call) in Bergen-Belsen
  • Doriane Kurz recalls Bergen-Belsen prisoners hauling wagons of corpses

    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 Kurz recalls Bergen-Belsen prisoners hauling wagons of corpses
  • Ruth Moser Borsos describes roll call (Appell) in Bergen-Belsen

    Oral History

    Ruth moved to the Netherlands after Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass") in 1938. She and her father had permits to sail to the United States, but Germany invaded the Netherlands in May 1940 and they could not leave. Ruth was deported to the Westerbork camp in 1943 and to the Bergen-Belsen camp in Germany in 1944. After an exchange agreement with the Allies broke down, Ruth was interned near the Swiss border until liberation by French forces in 1945.

    Ruth Moser Borsos describes roll call (Appell) in Bergen-Belsen
  • Fela Warschau describes liberation by British forces at Bergen-Belsen

    Oral History

    Fela was liberated at Bergen-Belsen by the British army in 1945. She went to a displaced persons (DP) camp administered by the Americans in Feldafing, near Munich. She married in the DP camp in 1946, and eventually immigrated to the United States.

    Tags: liberation
    Fela Warschau describes liberation by British forces at Bergen-Belsen
  • Bella Jakubowicz Tovey describes a British soldier's visit while she was hospitalized in Bergen-Belsen after liberation

    Oral History

    Bella was the oldest of four children born to a Jewish family in Sosnowiec. Her father owned a knitting factory. After the Germans invaded Poland in 1939, they took over the factory. The family's furniture was given to a German woman. Bella was forced to work in a factory in the Sosnowiec ghetto in 1941. At the end of 1942 the family was deported to the Bedzin ghetto. Bella was deported to the Graeben subcamp of Gross-Rosen in 1943 and to Bergen-Belsen in 1944. She was liberated in April 1945.

    Bella Jakubowicz Tovey describes a British soldier's visit while she was hospitalized in Bergen-Belsen after liberation
  • Norbert Wollheim describes working for the Kindertransport (Children's Transport) program, arranging for Jewish children to leave Germany
  • Norbert Wollheim describes departure of Kindertransporte (Childrens' Transports) from Berlin, and the separation of children from their parents

    Oral History

    Norbert studied law and was a social worker in Berlin. He worked on the Kindertransport (Children's Transport) program, arranging to send Jewish children from Europe to Great Britain. His parents, who also lived in Berlin, were deported in December 1942. Norbert, his wife, and their child were deported to Auschwitz in March 1943. He was separated from his wife and child, and sent to the Buna works near Auschwitz III (Monowitz) for forced labor. Norbert survived the Auschwitz camp, and was liberated by US…

    Norbert Wollheim describes departure of Kindertransporte (Childrens' Transports) from Berlin, and the separation of children from their parents
  • Alice (Eberstarkova) Masters describes leaving Czechoslovakia on a Kindertransport (Children's Transport)

    Oral History

    Alice grew up in a small village in Czechoslovakia. She was the middle of three daughters in a well-to-do, close-knit family. Her parents were religious and active in the Jewish community. After the German annexation of parts of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, antisemitism became more pronounced. Alice's uncle, a businessman who had moved to Great Britain, helped her parents arrange to send Alice and her two sisters on a Kindertransport (Children's Transport) to Britain. The sisters lived in a children's…

    Alice (Eberstarkova) Masters describes leaving Czechoslovakia on a Kindertransport (Children's Transport)
  • Alice (Eberstarkova) Masters describes going to a home for refugee children in England after arriving on a Kindertransport

    Oral History

    Alice grew up in a small village in Czechoslovakia. She was the middle of three daughters in a well-to-do, close-knit family. Her parents were religious and active in the Jewish community. After the German annexation of parts of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, antisemitism became more pronounced. Alice's uncle, a businessman who had moved to Great Britain, helped her parents arrange to send Alice and her two sisters on a Kindertransport (Children's Transport) to Britain. The sisters lived in a children's…

    Alice (Eberstarkova) Masters describes going to a home for refugee children in England after arriving on a Kindertransport
  • Edward Adler describes deportation to and arrival at the Sachsenhausen camp

    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 deportation to and arrival at the Sachsenhausen camp
  • Edward Adler describes forced labor and conditions in the Sachsenhausen camp

    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 forced labor and conditions in the Sachsenhausen camp
  • Tomasz (Toivi) Blatt describes the Izbica Jewish council (Judenrat) and German attacks (Aktionen) there

    Oral History

    After war began in September 1939, the Germans established a ghetto and Jewish council 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 Izbica Jewish council (Judenrat) and German attacks (Aktionen) there
  • Bella Jakubowicz Tovey describes a meeting between her father and the Jewish council leader in Sosnowiec

    Oral History

    Bella was the oldest of four children born to a Jewish family in Sosnowiec. Her father owned a knitting factory. After the Germans invaded Poland in 1939, they took over the factory. The family's furniture was given to a German woman. Bella was forced to work in a factory in the Sosnowiec ghetto in 1941. At the end of 1942 the family was deported to the Bedzin ghetto. Bella was deported to the Graeben subcamp of Gross-Rosen in 1943 and to Bergen-Belsen in 1944. She was liberated in April 1945.

    Tags: ghettos police
    Bella Jakubowicz Tovey describes a meeting between her father and the Jewish council leader in Sosnowiec
  • Max Karl Liebmann describes arrival at and conditions in the Gurs camp

    Oral History

    Because he was Jewish, Max could not join the army when World War II began. Instead, he had to perform labor service. In October 1940, Max and his mother were deported to the Gurs camp in France. In Gurs, Max met his future wife, Hanne. In 1941, with the help of the Children's Aid Society (Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants; OSE), Hanne left the camp. Max followed in July 1942. He escaped to Switzerland through the French Alps and was in internment and refugee camps throughout the war. Hanne reached Switzerland…

    Tags: Gurs France
    Max Karl Liebmann describes arrival at and conditions in the Gurs camp
  • Beatrice Stern Pappenheimer describes struggle among prisoners for meager food rations in Gurs camp

    Oral History

    Beatrice's family lost their textile business and home when the Nazis barred Jews from owning property. The family was deported to camps. Beatrice, her sister, and their mother were sent to Gurs. The Children's Aid Society (OSE) later placed the girls in homes and convents, where they feared Allied bomb attacks, but escaped the horrors of camp life. Their parents perished.

    Tags: Gurs France
    Beatrice Stern Pappenheimer describes struggle among prisoners for meager food rations in Gurs camp
  • Hanne Hirsch Liebmann describes conditions in the Gurs camp

    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..

    Tags: Gurs France
    Hanne Hirsch Liebmann describes conditions in the Gurs camp
  • David (Dudi) Bergman recalls the importance of work for survival in the Plaszow labor camp

    Oral History

    The Germans occupied David's town, previously annexed by Hungary, in 1944. David was deported to Auschwitz and, with his father, transported to Plaszow. David was sent to the Gross-Rosen camp and to Reichenbach. He was then among three of 150 in a cattle car who survived transportation to Dachau. He was liberated after a death march from Innsbruck toward the front line of combat between US and German troops.

    David (Dudi) Bergman recalls the importance of work for survival in the Plaszow labor camp
  • Alan Zimm describes a hanging in the Dora-Mittelbau camp

    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 a hanging in the Dora-Mittelbau camp
  • Robert Wagemann describes secret Jehovah's Witness prayer meetings in Nazi Germany

    Oral History

    Robert and his family were Jehovah's Witnesses. The Nazis regarded Jehovah's Witnesses as enemies of the state for their refusal to take an oath of loyalty to Adolf Hitler, or to serve in the German army. Robert's family continued its religious activities despite Nazi persecution. Shortly before Robert's birth, his mother was imprisoned briefly for distributing religious materials. Robert's hip was injured during delivery, leaving him with a disability. When Robert was five years, he was ordered to report…

    Robert Wagemann describes secret Jehovah's Witness prayer meetings in Nazi Germany
  • David Stoliar describes engine troubles experienced by the Struma upon leaving Constanta, Romania

    Oral History

    In 1936, David moved to Bucharest to live with his father. As Romania came under German influence, Romanian authorities introduced increasingly harsh measures against Jews. Antisemitic agitation increased and Jews came under attack in the streets of Bucharest and in other public places. David's father decided David should leave the country and arranged passage for him to Palestine. In December 1941, David left Romania from Constanta, a port city on the Black Sea, on the Struma, an old cattle boat. The…

    David Stoliar describes engine troubles experienced by the Struma upon leaving Constanta, Romania
  • David Stoliar describes conditions on board the Struma during the journey to Istanbul

    Oral History

    In 1936, David moved to Bucharest to live with his father. As Romania came under German influence, Romanian authorities introduced increasingly harsh measures against Jews. Antisemitic agitation increased and Jews came under attack in the streets of Bucharest and in other public places. David's father decided David should leave the country and arranged passage for him to Palestine. In December 1941, David left Romania from Constanta, a port city on the Black Sea, on the Struma, an old cattle boat. The…

    David Stoliar describes conditions on board the Struma during the journey to Istanbul
  • David Stoliar describes holding onto a piece of wreckage from the deck of the torpedoed Struma

    Oral History

    In 1936, David moved to Bucharest to live with his father. As Romania came under German influence, Romanian authorities introduced increasingly harsh measures against Jews. Antisemitic agitation increased and Jews came under attack in the streets of Bucharest and in other public places. David's father decided David should leave the country and arranged passage for him to Palestine. In December 1941, David left Romania from Constanta, a port city on the Black Sea, on the Struma, an old cattle boat. The…

    David Stoliar describes holding onto a piece of wreckage from the deck of the torpedoed Struma
  • David Stoliar describes how he survived the sinking of the Struma

    Oral History

    In 1936, David moved to Bucharest to live with his father. As Romania came under German influence, Romanian authorities introduced increasingly harsh measures against Jews. Antisemitic agitation increased and Jews came under attack in the streets of Bucharest and in other public places. David's father decided David should leave the country and arranged passage for him to Palestine. In December 1941, David left Romania from Constanta, a port city on the Black Sea, on the Struma, an old cattle boat. The…

    David Stoliar describes how he survived the sinking of the Struma
  • David Stoliar describes being the only witness to the fate of the "Struma"

    Oral History

    In 1936, David moved to Bucharest to live with his father. As Romania came under German influence, Romanian authorities introduced increasingly harsh measures against Jews. Antisemitic agitation increased and Jews came under attack in the streets of Bucharest and in other public places. David's father decided David should leave the country and arranged passage for him to Palestine. In December 1941, David left Romania from Constanta, a port city on the Black Sea, on the "Struma," an old cattle boat. The…

    David Stoliar describes being the only witness to the fate of the "Struma"
  • Flory (Floritza) Jagoda describes seeking refuge in Italy

    Oral History

    Flory was born into a Sephardic Jewish family. When Flory was a young girl, her mother moved to Zagreb with Flory's stepfather; Flory joined them after living with her grandmother for two years. In Zagreb, Flory took music lessons and learned how to play the accordion. Germany and its allies invaded Yugoslavia in April 1941, partitioning the country and establishing a fascist regime under the Ustase (pro-German Croatian nationalists) in Croatia. The Ustasa regime soon imposed anti-Jewish regulations in…

    Tags: Italy
    Flory (Floritza) Jagoda describes seeking refuge in Italy

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