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Idek R. Holocaust testimony (HVT-3130) interviewed by Dana L. Kline and Susan Millen,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-3130

Videotape testimony of Idek R., who was born in Proszowice, Poland in 1922. He recalls his close extended family; attending public school and cheder; German invasion; forced labor through 1941; fleeing with his friend to the Kraków ghetto to escape the liquidation of Jews in Proszowice (he never saw his parents again); transfer to Płaszów, then to Auschwitz in 1944; working in the Unionwerke until January 1945; a death march to the Czechoslovakian border; travel on freight cars to Mauthausen; working for Messerschmitt in Gusen II; and liberation by United States troops in 1945. Mr. R. recounts walking to Linz with his friend; recuperating in a hospital with assistance from the Red Cross; traveling with the Jewish brigade from Bindermichl to Bari; returning to Austria after learning his sister had survived; marriage in Bad Ischl in 1946; moving with his wife to Vienna; and emigration to Boston in 1949 with assistance from HIAS. He discusses his first trip to Poland in 1986; restoring the Jewish cemetery in Proszowice with his friends; and his most recent trip to Poland with his daughter, son-in-law, and nephew.

Author/Creator
R., Idek, 1922-
Published
New Haven, Conn. : Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, 1995
Interview Date
September 13, 1995.
Locale
Poland
Kraków
Proszowice (Poland)
Linz (Austria)
Bad Ischl (Austria)
Vienna (Austria)
Language
English
Copies
3 copies: Betacam SP master; 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Idek R. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-3130). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.