Advanced Search

Learn About The Holocaust

Special Collections

My Saved Research

Login

Register

Help

Skip to main content

Cela L. Holocaust testimony (HVT-1071) interviewed by Dina Choshen and Raphael Rozner,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-1071

Videotape testimony of Cela L., who was born in Kielce, Poland, circa 1932. She describes completing first grade in 1939; German invasion; her nanny leaving; ghettoization; smuggling food from Polish friends; killings during round-ups in 1942; transfer to the slave labor camp with her family; her father saving her from a children's round-up; her shame at being one of two children left alive; being hidden during roll calls; her parents' futile attempt to arrange her escape; her joy at not being separated from them; public hangings; deportation to Auschwitz in 1944; remaining with her mother (she never saw her father and brother again); always returning to her mother when they were separated; escaping from a group selected for gassing; their transfer to Ravensbrück, then Malchow; prisoners arranging for her to be assigned to the infirmary since she was too small for other work; sharing extra food with her mother; carrying corpses; assistance from the doctors; liberation by Red Cross workers organized by Folke Bernadotte; transfer to Denmark, then Sweden; and emigration to Israel in 1949. Mrs. L. reflects on the importance of being with her mother; assistance from Germans and fellow prisoners; praying in camps; the loss of her childhood; desire for revenge; and nightmares.

Author/Creator
L., Cela, ca. 1932-
Published
Ramat Aviv, Israel : Beth Hatefutsoth, Nahum Goldman Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, 1984
Interview Date
July 20, 1984.
Locale
Poland
Kielce
Kielce (Poland)
Denmark
Sweden
Language
Hebrew
Copies
2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Cela L. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1071). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.