- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Paul O., who was born in Hajdúhadház, Hungary in 1924, the oldest of four children. He recalls thinking a German-Jewish visitor was exaggerating stories of persecution; meeting his future wife in Debrecen; rabbinical studies in Budapest; draft into a Hungarian forced labor battalion in 1944; remaining with friends from rabbinical school; serving on the Russian front; escaping with his friends; rejoining his unit when he realized escape was impossible; feigning illness to be sent back to Hungary; return to the front lines when his ruse was discovered; changing his papers to indicate he was stationed in Budapest; being sent to Sátoraljaújhely, then Budapest; a Jew in hiding telling him to go to the Swiss consulate where he found friends from rabbinical school; visiting relatives; obtaining Swiss protection for them; liberation by Soviet troops in January 1944; learning about the death camps in spring 1945; reunion with his future wife and his father (the rest of his family had been killed); marriage; traveling to Germany; his father's emigration to Palestine; and theirs to the United States. Mr. O. discusses his children's relationship with his father.
- Author/Creator
- O., Paul, 1924-
- Published
- Wilmette, Ill. : Holocaust Education Foundation, 1985
- Interview Date
- June 23, 1985.
- Locale
- Hungary
Hajdúhadház (Hungary)
Debrecen (Hungary)
Budapest (Hungary)
Sátoraljaújhely (Hungary)
- Cite As
- Paul O. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-647). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
- Notes
-
This testimony has technical problems.
Associated material: Anna O. Holocaust testimony [wife] (HVT-646), Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
