Skip to main content

Martin L. Holocaust testimony (HVT-1467) interviewed by Barbara McPherson and Adele Rice Nudel,

Oral History | Digitized | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-1467

Overview

Summary: Videotape testimony of Martin L., who was born in Poland in 1914. He recalls his religious upbringing; discharge from the Polish army in 1938 after eighteen months service; recall in 1939; capture by Germans; escaping the mass shooting of his company; recapture and internment in Kutno as a non-Jewish prisoner of war; receiving false papers from a former schoolmate, which enabled him to continue to pose as a non-Jew; witnessing German soldiers set fire to a Jewish man; escaping to the Soviet zone; imprisonment as a spy by the Soviets; release by a Jewish colonel; a brief reunion with his family; enlisting in the Soviet army; learning of the liquidation of the Jews, including his family; visiting his hometown in 1944; and reporting neighbors who had killed his parents and sister. He recounts living in a displaced persons camp in Germany; emigration to the United States in 1948; and marriage to a woman he had met in a displaced persons camp.
Author/Creator: L., Martin, 1914-
Published: Baltimore, Md. : Baltimore Jewish Council, 1990
Interview Date: February 4, 1990.
Locale: Poland
Kutno (Poland)
Cite As: Martin L. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1467). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
Other Authors/Editors: McPherson, Barbara, interviewer.
Nudel, Adele Rice, interviewer.

Physical Details

Language: English
Copies: 2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Physical Description: 1 videorecording (1 hr., 48 min.) : col

Keywords & Subjects

Subjects (Local Yale): Aid by non-Jews.
Mass killings.
False papers.
Mutual aid.
Soviet occupation.
Subjects: Holocaust survivors. Video tapes. Men. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Jewish. Escapes. World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities. World War, 1939-1945--Participation, Jewish. World War, 1939-1945--Participation, Polish. Prisoners of war--Poland. World War, 1939-1945--Participation, Soviet. Poland. Kutno (Poland) Oral histories (document genres) L., Martin,--1914-

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/1089237
Record last modified:: 2018-06-04 13:28:00
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt1089237

Additional Resources

Librarian View

Download & Licensing

Terms of Use
This record is digitized but cannot be downloaded online.

In-Person Research

Request Access from Yale University Libraries

Requires Yale University Libraries Permission
Accessing Fortunoff interviews
Log in to Request and View
About the Fortunoff Archive

Once requests are approved, you must be at a Fortunoff Access Site to view the testimony.

Contact Us

Give Feedback

Learn About the Holocaust

These additional online resources from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum will help you learn more about the Holocaust and research your family history.

Holocaust Encyclopedia

The Holocaust Encyclopedia provides an overview of the Holocaust using text, photographs, maps, artifacts, and personal histories.
Holocaust Survivors and Victims Resource Center

Research family history relating to the Holocaust and explore the Museum's collections about individual survivors and victims of the Holocaust and Nazi persecution.
Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos

Learn about over 1,000 camps and ghettos in Volumes I-III of this encyclopedia, which are available as a free PDF download. This reference provides text, photographs, charts, maps, and extensive indexes.

Further Your Research