Skip to main content

Helen N. Holocaust testimony (HVT-1163) interviewed by Sandy Hoffman and Rosie Frydman,

Oral History | Digitized | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-1163

Overview

Summary: Videotape testimony of Helen N., who was born in Ozorków, Poland in 1924, one of four children. She recalls her father was a jeweler; attending public school; German invasion; anti-Jewish regulations; ghettoization; deportation to the Łódź ghetto; forced labor; being saved from deportation by a cousin who was a policeman; hiding her brother due to his frailty; their deportation to Auschwitz in 1944; transfer with her sister to Hamburg three days later (she never saw the rest of her family again); forced labor clearing bombing rubble; transfer to Bergen-Belsen; liberation by British troops; recovering for several months; living in Feldafing displaced persons camp; marriage; her daughter's birth; and emigration to the United States in 1949. Mrs. N. discusses the trauma of separation from her mother in Auschwitz and maintaining hope through hate for Hitler and wishes for his death. She reads a poem she wrote.
Author/Creator: N., Helen, 1924-
Published: Milwaukee, Wis. : Generation After of Milwaukee, 1988
Interview Date: November 8, 1988.
Locale: Poland
Ozorków
Łódź
Ozorków (Poland)
Hamburg (Germany)
Cite As: Helen N. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1163). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
Other Authors/Editors: Hoffman, Sanford, interviewer.
Frydman, Rosie, interviewer.

Physical Details

Language: English
Copies: 2 copies: 3/4 in. master; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Physical Description: 1 videorecording (56 min.) : col

Keywords & Subjects

Subjects (Local Yale): Child survivors.
Hiding.
Mutual aid.
Subjects: Holocaust survivors. Video tapes. Women. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Jewish. World War, 1939-1945--Children. Jewish ghettos. Jews--Poland--Ozorków. Jews--Poland--Łódź. Sisters. Forced labor. Refugee camps. Poland. Ozorków (Poland) Hamburg (Germany) Oral histories (document genres) N., Helen,--1924- Auschwitz (Concentration camp) Bergen-Belsen (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/4283406
Record last modified:: 2018-06-04 13:31:00
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4283406

Additional Resources

Librarian View

Download & Licensing

Terms of Use
This record is digitized but cannot be downloaded online.

In-Person Research

Request Access from Yale University Libraries

Requires Yale University Libraries Permission
Accessing Fortunoff interviews
Log in to Request and View
About the Fortunoff Archive

Once requests are approved, you must be at a Fortunoff Access Site to view the testimony.

Contact Us

Give Feedback

Learn About the Holocaust

These additional online resources from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum will help you learn more about the Holocaust and research your family history.

Holocaust Encyclopedia

The Holocaust Encyclopedia provides an overview of the Holocaust using text, photographs, maps, artifacts, and personal histories.
Holocaust Survivors and Victims Resource Center

Research family history relating to the Holocaust and explore the Museum's collections about individual survivors and victims of the Holocaust and Nazi persecution.
Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos

Learn about over 1,000 camps and ghettos in Volumes I-III of this encyclopedia, which are available as a free PDF download. This reference provides text, photographs, charts, maps, and extensive indexes.

Further Your Research