- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Claire F., who was born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia in 1926. She recalls attending German school; antisemitic measures in 1939, including expulsion from school; joining Hashomer Hatzair; expulsion from their home, then Bratislava; relocation to Šaštín; round-up with her parents, sister, and grandmother in June 1942; transport to Žilina; deportation to Auschwitz; separation from her family (she never saw them again); transfer to Birkenau; assignment to the administration which resulted in privileged treatment; her work completing death certificates; learning about the gas chambers; Allied bombardments; public hanging of three women who participated in the Sonderkommando uprising; remaining with her friend during the January 1945 death march; helping each other to remain upright; train transport to Ravensbrück; transfer to Malchow and Leipzig; escaping with others from a death march near Grimma; posing as German refugees; liberation by United States troops; choosing not to take revenge; returning to Bratislava; living in Prague; emigrating to the United States in 1948; and marriage to a Czech survivor. Mrs. F. discusses the importance of her attitude and luck to her survival; nightmares; difficulties faced by Czechs who had helped Jews; and her sense that her experiences are always present despite her "normal" life. She shows photographs.
- Author/Creator
- F., Claire, 1926-
- Published
- New York, N.Y. : A Living Memorial to the Holocaust-Museum of Jewish Heritage, 1991
- Interview Date
- December 17, 1991.
- Locale
- Bratislava (Slovakia)
Czechoslovakia
Šaštín (Slovakia)
Žilina (Slovakia)
Grimma (Germany)
Prague (Czech Republic)
- Cite As
- Claire F. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1919). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
- Other Authors/Editors
- Pery, Jaschael, interviewer.
