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Hannah R. Holocaust testimony (HVT-1883) interviewed by Joni-Sue Blinderman,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-1883

Videotape testimony of Hannah R., who was born in Šiauliai, Lithuania in 1928. She recalls her comfortable, observant childhood; speaking Hebrew at home; summer vacations in Palanga; antisemitic violence; Soviet occupation; her father's imprisonment and release; German invasion; her father's disappearance (she never saw him again); ghettoization; transfer with her mother and sister to the Trakai ghetto in 1943; the children's round-up in June 1944; deportation with her mother and sister in July to Stutthof; their transfer to several work camps; the death march in December to Gross Golmkau (Gołębiewo), then Praest; her mother's refusal to attempt escape; her own escape; hiding with assistance from British POWs; working on a German farm; liberation by Soviet troops; two months traveling to Białystok; several incidents of sexual harassment; learning her mother and sister had not survived; living on a kibbutz in Sosnowiec; traveling to Sankt Ottilien; emigration to the United States in 1947 to join her uncle; marriage to an American; and several career changes. Mrs. R. discusses reunions with the British POWs; arranging their designation as "Righteous among the Nations" by Yad Vashem; and her belief that every survivor's story is unique. She shows photographs.

Author/Creator
R., Hannah, 1928-
Published
New York, N.Y. : A Living Memorial to the Holocaust-Museum of Jewish Heritage, 1992
Interview Date
August 3, 1992.
Locale
Lithuania
Šiauliai
Trakai
Germany
Šiauliai (Lithuania)
Poland
Palanga (Lithuania)
Gołębiewo (Poland)
Praest (Emmerich, Germany)
Białystok (Poland)
Sosnowiec (Województwo Śląskie, Poland)
Language
English
Copies
2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Hannah R. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1883). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.