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Jack K. Holocaust testimony (HVT-1016) interviewed by Peter Merry and Harriet Tarnor Wacks,

Oral History | Digitized | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-1016

Overview

Summary: Videotape testimony of Jack K., who was born in Wieliczka, Poland in 1924, the oldest of seven children. He recalls cordial relations with non-Jews until 1936; attending yeshiva and public school in Kraków until 1939; German invasion; ghettoization and formation of a Judenrat; finding his father's body after a mass murder; the influx of Jews from Kraków to Wieliczka; forced labor at degrading tasks; transfer to Pustków; daily hangings; escape to Wieliczka; hiding; and working to obtain food for his siblings. Mr. K. recounts incidents in the Kraków ghetto, Wieliczka, Płaszów, and another camp; frequent brutality and killings; transfer to Mauthausen, Steyr, and Gusen; liberation by United States troops in May 1945; recuperation in Gmunden, Austria; living in a displaced persons camp; meeting his wife; and emigrating to the United States in 1949. Mr. K. vividly details many incidents and notes he "can shut it off" so it won't "drive me crazy."
Author/Creator: K., Jack, 1924-
Published: Peabody, Mass. : North Shore Jewish Federation Holocaust Center, 1987
Interview Date: July 28, 1987.
Locale: Poland
Wieliczka
Kraków
Wieliczka (Poland)
Kraków (Poland)
Gmunden (Austria)
Cite As: Jack K. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1016). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
Other Authors/Editors: Merry, Peter, interviewer.
Wacks, Harriet Tarnor, 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., 57 min.) : col

Keywords & Subjects

Subjects (Local Yale): Antisemitism Prewar.
Postwar experiences.
Child survivors.
Subjects: Holocaust survivors. Video tapes. Men. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Jewish. Forced labor. World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities. Jewish ghettos. Jews--Poland--Wieliczka. World War, 1939-1945--Children. Jews--Poland--Kraków. Poland. Wieliczka (Poland) Kraków (Poland) Gmunden (Austria) Oral histories (document genres) Jewish councils. Refugee camps. Escapes. K., Jack,--1924- Pustków (Concentration camp) Płaszów (Concentration camp) Mauthausen (Concentration camp) Gusen (Concentration camp)

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/1091646
Record last modified:: 2018-05-29 11:46:00
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt1091646

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