Oral history interview with Anna Geslewitz

Oral History | Not Digitized | Accession Number: 1989.228.15 | RG Number: RG-50.060.0015

Overview

Interview Summary: Anna Geslewitz (née Charoltte Gersten), born on September 17, 1923 in Lwow, Poland (now L’viv, Ukraine), discusses her childhood experiences; the Russian occupation of her town; the German occupation in 1941; life in a ghetto; working in tailoring shop for the army in the ghetto; escaping from the ghetto with her sister; registering to go to Germany for work; passing as Christians; never seeing her father again; traveling through Krakow, Poland and going to an employment agency in Regnitz, Poland; working in homes while her sister worked on a farm; being taken to dig ditches in a forced labor camp; working in an office because she could speak German; being liberated by the Russians; going east to Jarosław, Poland; finding her sister and moving to a town on the Baltic Sea; opening a store; continuing to pass as Christian; going to West Germany; getting married in 1948; immigrating to the United States in 1950; living in Brooklyn (NY), Pennsylvania, and Newark (NJ); her feelings on antisemitism; and her current views on American Judaism.
Interviewee: Anna Geslewitz
Date: interview: 1988 May 10

Physical Details

Language: English
Extent: 1 videocassette (VHS) : sound, color ; 1/2 in..

Rights & Restrictions

Conditions on Access: No restrictions on access
Conditions on Use: No restrictions on use

Keywords & Subjects

Topical Term: Escapes. Forced labor. Holocaust survivors--Marriage. Holocaust survivors--United States. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. Jewish ghettos--Ukraine--L'viv. Jewish women in the Holocaust. Jews--Ukraine--L'viv. Passing (Identity)--Poland. Sisters. Women concentration camp inmates. Women tailors. Women--Personal narratives. World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps. World War, 1939-1945--Deportations. World War, 1939-1945--Jews--Poland.
Geographic Name: Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) Germany. Kraków (Poland) L'viv (Ukraine) New York (N.Y.) Newark (N.J.) Pennsylvania. Poland--History--Occupation, 1939-1945. United States--Emigration and immigration.
Personal Name: Geslewitz, Anna.
Corporate Name: Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society of America

Administrative Notes

Holder of Originals: Phoenix Holocaust Survivors Association
Legal Status: Permanent Collection
Provenance: The interview with Anna Geslewitz was conducted on May 10, 1988 by the Phoenix Holocaust Survivors' Association in affiliation with the Cline Library of Northern Arizona University as part of a project to document the testimonies of Holocaust survivors in the Phoenix, AZ area. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum received a copy of the interview in 1989.
Special Collection: The Jeff and Toby Herr Oral History Archive

Record last modified:: 2023-08-25 09:38:43
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn512499

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