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Agi R. Holocaust testimony (HVT-860) interviewed by Barbara McPherson and Susan W. Needle,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-860

Videotape testimony of Agi R., who was born circa 1928 in Budapest, Hungary. She recalls her parents' close friends with whom they vacationed in the Balaton area; parental pressure to become a concert pianist; anti-Jewish measures from 1939 onward; her father's dismissal from his job in 1940; German occupation of Budapest in March 1944; deteriorating conditions; her father's deportation for forced labor; and moving in with a family friend. Mrs. R. describes a seven day walk with her mother in November to a brick factory in III. Kerület (Óbuda); a forced march to Hegyeshalom; obtaining Swedish documents which freed them and allowed their return to Budapest; their arrest enroute to Budapest; deportation to Ravensbrück; extreme deprivation; becoming desensitized to bodies; forced labor in Furstenberg quarry; her mother's hospitalization; attempts to stay with her mother; and Mrs. R.'s transport to Rechlin (Retzow). She relates becoming ill; evacuation in April to Malchow; liberation by Soviets; hospitalization; return to Budapest in June; finding only her mother's friend alive; recuperation; nightmares; continuing her music education; emigration to the United States in 1956; and work as a concert pianist. Mrs. R. discusses the lasting results of her experiences and unanswered questions about her parents.

Author/Creator
R., Agi, 1928?-
Published
Baltimore, Md. : Baltimore Jewish Council, 1991
Interview Date
October 6, 1991.
Locale
Hungary
Budapest (Hungary)
III. Kerület (Budapest, Hungary)
Hegyeshalom (Hungary)
Malchow (Germany)
Language
English
Copies
2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Agi R. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-860). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.