Overview
- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Mitchell W., who was born in Łódź, Poland in 1926. He recalls his large and close extended family; German invasion; confiscation of Jewish property resulting in loss of family income; ghettoization; working as an electrician; his father's death from starvation in April 1941; deportation with his mother to Auschwitz/Birkenau in August 1944; transfer to Mysłowice (Günthergrube) after volunteering as an electrician; forced labor in coal mines; being saved from a selection by doctors in the infirmary; prisoner variety shows on Christmas and New Year; the death march in January 1945; escaping with another prisoner; arrest; imprisonment in Czechoslovakia and Vienna; and transfer to Mauthausen. Mr W. remembers the complete lack of food; eating snails and dead birds; moving to the tent camp; liberation; escaping due to his fear of being caught again by Germans; living in a displaced pserons camp; returning to Łódź to seek family; fearing to reclaim family property due to antisemitism; traveling with a kibbutz to Czechoslovakia and Germany; and emigrating to the United States. He discusses his inability to enjoy anything because he lost all family with whom to share his life.
- Published
- Wilmette, Ill. : Holocaust Education Foundation, 1987
- Interview Date
- March 27, 1987.
- Locale
- Poland
Łódź
Łódź (Poland)
Czechoslovakia
Germany - Cite As
- Mitchell W. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1006). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
Physical Details
- Language
- English
- Copies
- 2 copies: 3/4 in. master; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
- Physical Description
- 1 videorecording (1 hr., 21 min.) : col
Keywords & Subjects
- Subjects (Local Yale)
- Child survivors.
Mutual aid.
Hospitals in concentration camps.
Postwar experiences.
Antisemitism Postwar.
Postwar effects. - Subjects
- Holocaust survivors. Video tapes. Men. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Jewish. World War, 1939-1945--Children. Jews--Poland--Łódź. Jewish ghettos. Forced labor. Death marches. Escapes. Poland. Łódź (Poland) World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons, German. World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons, Austrian. Czechoslovakia. Germany. Oral histories (document genres) Refugee camps. W., Mitchell,--1926- Günthergrube (Concentration camp) Auschwitz (Concentration camp) Birkenau (Concentration camp) Myslowice (Concentration camp) Mauthausen (Concentration camp)
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
- Special Collection
-
Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
- Link to Yale University Library Catalog:
- http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/4282840
- Record last modified:
- 2018-06-04 13:27:00
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4282840
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