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Israel R. Holocaust testimony (HVT-2112) interviewed by David Herman,

Oral History | Digitized | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-2112

Overview

Summary: Videotape testimony of Israel R., who was born in Piotrków, Poland in 1927, one of nine children. He recalls attending Polish school and cheder; his family's orthodoxy; German invasion; one older sister leaving for the Soviet Union; his father being rounded-up and beaten; his return and death; ghettoization; forced factory labor outside the ghetto; obtaining extra food for his family; being detained in the factory; learning almost the entire town was deported to Treblinka, including his family; feeling he lived in a ghost town; transfer to Skarżysko; slave labor in a munitions factory; hospitalization; a prisoner warning him of a pending liquidation; leaving despite his health; assistance from the camp doctor; joining a group that fashioning a shofar and prayed; a public hanging; transfer to Buchenwald; improved conditions; slave labor in Schlieben; briefly escaping after a bombing; recapture; a local farmer giving him food; transfer to Theresienstadt; liberation by Soviet troops; being taken to England; learning tailoring; marriage in 1950; and raising his family. Mr. R. discusses learning his older sister had survived in the Soviet Union (she lives in Israel); maintaining his religious beliefs; and the importance of his children and grandchildren. He shows photographs and artifacts.
Author/Creator: R., Israel, 1927-
Published: London, England : British Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, 1992
Interview Date: September 16, 1992.
Locale: Poland
Piotrków Trybunalski
Piotrków Trybunalski (Poland)
Cite As: Israel R. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2112). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.

Physical Details

Language: English
Copies: 2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Physical Description: 1 videorecording (2 hr., 23 min.) : col

Keywords & Subjects

Subjects (Local Yale): Child survivors.
Hospitals in concentration camps.
Mutual aid.
Aid by non-Jews.
Postwar experiences.
Subjects: Holocaust survivors. Video tapes. Men. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Jewish. World War, 1939-1945--Children. Jewish children in the Holocaust. Jewish ghettos. Jews--Poland--Piotrków Trybunalski. Forced labor. Concentration camp inmates--Religious life. World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities. Escapes. Faith. Piotrków Trybunalski (Poland) Poland. Oral histories (document genres) R., Israel,--1927- Skarżysko-Kamienna (Concentration camp) Buchenwald (Concentration camp) Schlieben (Concentration camp) Theresienstadt (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/4296418
Record last modified:: 2018-06-04 13:29:00
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4296418

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