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Pola H. Holocaust testimony (HVT-654)

Oral History | Digitized | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-654

Overview

Summary: Videotape testimony of Pola H., who was born in Kielce, Poland in 1913 to a family of ten children. She recalls membership in Hashomer Hatzair; German invasion; bombing raids; marriage in 1940; ghettoization in 1942; privileges obtained from working as a seamstress; the humiliation of being naked in front of Nazi men; deportation to Auschwitz in September 1944 (she never saw her husband again); transfer to Ravensbrück, then Malchow; slave labor in a munitions factory; transfer to Sweden via Denmark by the Swedish Red Cross with assistance from Folke Bernadotte; recovery and working; clandestine emigration to Palestine; interception by the British in Haifa harbor; transfer to Cyprus; transfer to Haifa; remarriage to a Kielce survivor; and the births of two sons. Mrs. H. discusses her identification as an Israeli; she and her husband sharing their experiences with their children; and frequently recurring memories and nightmares.
Author/Creator: H., Pola, 1913-
Published: Wilmette, Ill. : Holocaust Education Foundation, 1985
Interview Date: October 10, 1985.
Locale: Poland
Kielce
Kielce (Poland)
Denmark
Palestine
Sweden
Cyprus
Haifa (Israel)
Cite As: Pola H. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-654). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.

Physical Details

Language: English
Copies: 3 copies: 3/4 in. master; 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Physical Description: 1 videorecording (44 min.) : col

Keywords & Subjects

Subjects (Local Yale): Survivor-child relations.
Postwar effects.
Husband Death.
Subjects: Holocaust survivors. Video tapes. Women. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Jewish. Jewish ghettos. Nightmares. Jews--Poland--Kielce. Forced labor. Poland. Kielce (Poland) Denmark. Palestine--Emigration and immigration. Sweden. Cyprus. Haifa (Israel) Oral histories (document genres) H., Pola,--1913- Bernadotte, Folke,--1895-1948. Svenska röda korset. World Hashomer Hatzair. Auschwitz (Concentration camp) Ravensbrück (Concentration camp) Malchow (Concentration camp)

Administrative Notes

Holder of Originals: Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
Special Collection: Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies

Link to Yale University Library Catalog:: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/1108247
Record last modified:: 2018-05-29 11:58:00
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt1108247

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