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Nathan L. Holocaust testimony (HVT-856) interviewed by Susan Millen and Dana L. Kline,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-856

Videotape testimony of Nathan L., who was born in Pilica, Poland in 1910. He recalls moving to Sosnowiec; training as a shoemaker (his father's trade); marriage and the birth of a son and daughter; his wife's death prior to the war; German invasion in 1939; forced labor; and transfer to Breslau. Mr. L. describes conditions in Breslau; receiving packages from his family for about a year; being assigned to work as a shoemaker by a friend, to which he attributes his survival; and learning of the deaths of his children. He relates incarceration in many camps including Breslau-Neukirch, Gross Rosen, Fünfteichen (where he worked in a Krupp armaments factory), Markstädt, Dachau, and Buchenwald (where he buried photographs of his children which he never found); liberation from a train in Bavaria by United States troops on May 5, 1945; life in Feldafing; marriage and the birth of his son; emigration to the United States in 1945; establishing a family business; and the birth of his second son. Mr. L. discusses the importance of luck and being a shoemaker to his survival; his desire to return to Poland (his sons do not want him to make this trip); nightmares about the war years; and his "very long story."

Author/Creator
L., Nathan, 1910-
Published
New Haven, Conn. : Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, 1992
Interview Date
June 3, 1992.
Locale
Poland
Sosnowiec (Województwo Śląskie, Poland)
Pilica (Poland)
Language
English
Copies
3 copies: 3/4 in. master; 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Nathan L. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-856). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.