- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Eugene R., who was born in Abaújszántó, Hungary in 1922. He recalls the second class status of Jews despite a comfortable life; attending Yeshiva in Miskolc and gymnasium in Budapest while learning the leather trade; his brothers' compulsory service in labor battalions (they did not survive); German invasion; and forced labor outside Budapest in 1944. Mr. R. recounts chaos following Hungary's attempt to withdraw from the war; efforts by a battalion officer to prevent their deportation in late 1944; transport to Fertőrakos; digging trenches and bunkers; horrendous conditions; transfer to Balf; meeting his two other brothers after their return from the Russian front; a landlady protecting Mr. R. and a brother from a soldier's abuse; transfer by train and on foot to Vienna, Mauthausen, Wels and Gunskirchen; and liberation on May 4th just before Germans destroyed the camp. He describes transfer with his brothers to the Soviet occupied zone; escaping to Budapest, then Miskolc; reunion with his sister; learning their parents had been killed; escape to Vienna in January 1948; and emigration to the United States in 1950. Mr. R. reflects on similarities between the Passover Haggadah and testimonies about the Holocaust.
- Author/Creator
- R., Eugene, 1922-
- Published
- New Haven, Conn. : Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, 1992
- Interview Date
- June 12, 1992.
- Locale
- Hungary
Abaújszántó (Hungary)
Budapest (Hungary)
Miskolc (Hungary)
Fertőrákos (Hungary)
Balf (Hungary)
- Cite As
- Eugene R. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1878). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
- Other Authors/Editors
- Kline, Dana L., interviewer.
Herz, Sara Moss, interviewer.
- Notes
-
Associated material: Michael R. Holocaust testimony [brother] (HVT-1882), Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.