- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Henoch D., who was born in Vilna, Poland (presently Vilnius, Lithuania) in 1928, the younger of two brothers. He recalls attending a Tarbut school; German invasion; his father's disappearance and murder in Ponary; ghettoization; hiding during round-ups; his uncle arranging for him and his mother to move to a village farm; the non-Jewish villagers hiding them during round-ups; contacting his brother through a villager; smuggling food to the ghetto through the same man; discontinuing when it became too dangerous; returning to the ghetto with his mother in 1943; hiding during round-ups; deportation to Vaivara; friendship with another child; the head of his work group giving him extra food; assignment to burning corpses of executed Jews; transfer to Vivikoni for three months; separation from his friend; transfer to another camp for three months; hospitalization for typhus; obtaining extra food begging at local Estonian houses; transfer to Goldfilz; reunion with his brother; sharing extra food with him; their transfer to Stutthof; using ruses to appear older during selections; transfer to Dautmergen; convincing an officer not to select his brother for death; a death march; abandonment by the guards; liberation by French troops; traveling to Sigmaringen, then traveling to seek Jews planning to emigrate to Palestine; separation from his brother en route to Milan (his brother volunteered to bring others from eastern Europe); joining a hachsharah in Magenta; illegal emigration to Palestine; living on several kibbutzim based on his membership in Hashomer Hatzair; military training in Haganah; fighting in the Israel-Arab War; returning to the kibbutz; and meeting his wife. Mr. D. discusses developing his love for Israel during three years of kibbutz experiences; social connections helping him forget his painful memories, despite sensing that Israelis did not fully understand survivors; and thinking more about his past as he grows older.
- Author/Creator
- D., Henoch, 1928-
- Published
- Ramat Aviv, Israel : Beth Hatefutsoth, Nahum Goldman Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, 1984
- Interview Date
- August 31and September 14, 1984.
- Locale
- Lithuania
Vilnius
Poland
Vilnius (Lithuania)
Sigmaringen (Germany)
Milan (Italy)
Magenta (Italy)
Palestine
- Cite As
- Henoch D. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1075). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
- Other Authors/Editors
- Adler, Raya, interviewer.
Weil, V. T., interviewer.
- Notes
-
This testimony is in Hebrew .
Related material: Arie D. Holocaust testimony [brother](HVT-3535), Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
