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Bernard G. Holocaust testimony (HVT-1694) interviewed by Lidya Osadchey and Ellen Trachtenberg,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-1694

Videotape testimony of Bernard G., who was born in Łódź, Poland in 1929. He recalls his strict Orthodox family; attending Jewish and secular schools; increased antisemitism in the 1930s; German invasion; his father's escape to the Soviet zone; fleeing to Koluszki with his mother; returning to Łódź; anti-Jewish measures; ghettoization; working as a courier for the Jewish council; deportation to Auschwitz in fall 1944; separation from his mother upon arrival (he never saw her again); selections in Birkenau; transfer to Kaufering; forced labor; sharing food and helping other prisoners; the death march to Allach; and his liberation from Dachau by United States troops. Mr. G. describes traveling to Munich with friends; an unsuccessful attempt to contact relatives in Israel; living in the Jewish community in Frankfurt with friends, then in the Zeilsheim displaced persons camp until 1948; learning diamond cutting in Belgium; and emigrating to the United States in 1949. He emphasizes his strong faith and support for Jewish education and Israel.

Author/Creator
G., Bernard, 1926-
Published
Houston, Tex : Holocaust Education Center and Memorial Museum of Houston, 1991
Interview Date
March 11, 1991.
Locale
Poland
Łódź
Łódź (Poland)
Koluszki (Poland)
Munich (Germany)
Frankfurt am Main (Germany)
Language
English
Copies
2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Bernard G. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1694). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.