Overview
- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Yakov S., who was born in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland in 1924. He recalls his family's Hasidism; attending yeshivot in Tomaszów and Łódź; harassment by non-Jews; his bar mitzvah; German invasion in September 1939; deportation to Częstochowa a few days later; slave labor constructing a concentration camp; his anguish at being forced to work on Yom Kippur; transfer to Görlitz, then Rawitsch; praying for help; transfer to Buchenwald; sleeping next to a rabbi; a non-Jew smuggling medicine to him; sharing it with others; suffering after the rabbi died; observing Hanukkah and Yom Kippur in secret; transfer to Auschwitz/Birkenau; a Polish civilian worker bringing him food and explosives that he passed to the underground; their revolt and destruction of a gas chamber; a severe beating; refusing to divulge names; hospitalization; friends saving him from selections; transfer to Buna/Monowitz; a death march to Gleiwitz in April 1945; transport in open freight trains to Buchenwald; Czechs throwing them food en route; transfer to Altenburg; a Polish non-Jew bringing him extra food; liberation; exacting some revenge on Nazi guards; traveling to Prague, Plzeň, then Italy; illegal emigration to Palestine; incarceration in Cyprus; meeting his future wife; marriage; and arrival in Israel. Mr. S. notes his orthodoxy and continuing belief in God, and nightmares resulting from his experiences.
- Published
- Ramat Aviv, Israel : Beth Hatefutsoth, Nahum Goldman Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, 1985-1986
- Interview Date
- November 20, 1985 and February 26, 1986.
- Locale
- Poland
Tomaszów Mazowiecki (Poland)
Łódź (Poland)
Prague (Czech Republic)
Plzeň (Czech Republic)
Italy
Palestine
Cyprus - Cite As
- Yakov S. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1812). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
- Notes
-
This testimony is in Hebrew.
Physical Details
- Language
- Hebrew
- Copies
- 4 copies: 3/4 in. dub; Betacam SP restoration master; Betacam SP restoration submaster; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
- Physical Description
- 2 videorecordings (2 hr., and 1 hr., 43 min.) : col
Keywords & Subjects
- Subjects (Local Yale)
- Child survivors.
Aid by non-Jews.
Mutual aid.
Concentration camps Revolts.
Concentration camps Underground movements.
Hospitals in concentration camps.
Postwar experiences.
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. Jewish children in the Holocaust. Forced labor. Concentration camp inmates--Religious life. Concentration camps--Psychological aspects. Death marches. Revenge. Faith. Nightmares. Poland. Tomaszów Mazowiecki (Poland) Łódź (Poland) Prague (Czech Republic) Plzeň (Czech Republic) Italy. Palestine--Emigration and immigration. Cyprus. Oral histories (document genres) S., Yakov,--1924- Częstochowa (Concentration camp) Rawitsch (Concentration camp) Buchenwald (Concentration camp) Auschwitz (Concentration camp) Birkenau (Concentration camp) Monowitz (Concentration camp) Görlitz (Concentration camp) Altenburg (Concentration camp : Thuringia, Germany)
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/4284347
- Record last modified:
- 2018-05-30 11:51:00
- This page:
- http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4284347
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