William M. Holocaust testimony (HVT-1692) interviewed by Lidya Osadchey and Nancy Freed,

Videotape testimony of William M., who was born in Cherniyev, Poland in 1925. He recalls a strict, Orthodox family life; extreme poverty; pervasive antisemitism; Soviet, Hungarian, and German occupations; forced transfer to the Stanislav ghetto; hanging of Jewish police, including his brother, for not delivering a required number of Jews; forced labor on a farm; smuggling stolen food to his family; digging graves for a mass killing, which he witnessed; obtaining a Polish birth certificate; escaping from the ghetto; traveling to Ozeri︠a︡ny, posing as a Pole; working for farmers; attending church to avoid disclosure; liberation by Soviet troops; violent conflicts between Ukrainians and Poles; being drafted into the Polish military; basic training in Moscow; posting to Katowice; deserting; fleeing to Ozeri︠a︡ny; returning to Katowice; working as a driver; learning of the concentration camps and that other Jews had survived; admitting he was Jewish; traveling to Regensburg with assistance from the Haganah; and emigrating to the United States in July 1949. Mr. M. discusses futile attempts to find surviving relatives; resolving his ambivalence about his Jewish identity; building a successful business; raising his children as Jews; and the importance of luck, common sense, and hard work to his survival.