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Robert B. Holocaust testimony (HVT-2440) interviewed by David Krakow,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-2440

Videotape testimony of Robert B., who was born in Grodno, Poland (presently Hrodna, Belarus) in 1928. He recalls his father's conscription into the Polish Army in 1939 (he became a war prisoner in the Soviet Union); German invasion in June 1941; ghettoization in the fall; substituting for his brother for forced labor in Kielbasin; deportation with the last transport from Grodno to Birkenau in 1943; separation from his family, who were selected for death; working as a barber; watching people walk to the gas chambers; hearing shots during the Sonderkommando uprising; helping dismantle the crematoria; the death march to Gross Rosen in January 1945; transfer to Dachau, then Waldlager V; and liberation by United States troops from a train. Mr. B. describes reunion with his father in Białystok; antisemitic violence; fleeing to a displaced persons camp in Italy; and emigrating with his father and stepmother to the United States in 1949. He discusses his belief that the Holocaust resulted from the apathy of many countries and that the killing of millions "made no difference."

Author/Creator
B., Robert, 1928-
Published
Mahwah, N.J. : Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, 1992
Interview Date
May 1, 1992.
Locale
Belarus
Hrodna
Poland
Hrodna (Belarus)
Białystok (Poland)
Italy
Language
English
Copies
2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Robert B. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2440). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.