- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Helena H., who was born in 1926 in Pilzno, Poland. She recalls her mother's death when she was six; her father's remarriage; German invasion; public humiliation of Jews; forced labor; the influx of Jews from surrounding towns; hiding during the first "aktion" in July 1942 when many relatives were deported; ghettoization; her brother's deportation during the second "aktion" in November; non-Jewish friends helping her join a transport of Polish laborers in December 1942; and her last glimpse of her father. Mrs. H. recounts transfer to Kraków; forced labor in Prokocim concentration camp for a year; encountering many Jews who could have exposed her but chose not to recognize her; obtaining false papers she could not use because they did not "match" her other papers; an Austrian worker choosing her as his servant and bringing her to the Tyrol via Vienna in February 1944; comfortable living conditions in Tyrol; her collapse upon liberation in 1945; and fear of revealing her true identity for another year and a half. She notes she dreams of losing her papers when she is under pressure.
- Author/Creator
- H., Helena, 1926-
- Published
- Mahwah, N.J. : Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, 1990
- Interview Date
- October 22, 1990.
- Locale
- Poland
Pilzno
Pilzno (Poland)
Tyrol (Austria)
Kraków (Poland)
- Cite As
- Helena H. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1561). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
- Other Authors/Editors
- Schuschny, Claire, interviewer.
Hirschfield, Sarah, interviewer.
