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Helen R. Holocaust testimony (HVT-1988) interviewed by Kathy Strochlic,

Oral History | Digitized | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-1988

Overview

Summary: Videotape testimony of Helen R., who was born in Wolbrom, Poland in 1923. She recounts her father's death when she was ten months old; antisemitic harassment by teachers and students in school; her mother's remarriage; moving to Sosnowiec; the births of two half-siblings; German invasion; ghettoization in Srodula; pervasive hunger; deportation with her sister to Guentherbruecke; forced labor in a munitions factory; she and her sister helping each other; receiving extra food from her cousin; transfer to Peterswaldau; liberation by Soviet troops; their return to Sosnowiec; learning her immediate family had been killed; her sister's emigration to Israel; marriage to a survivor; moving to Munich; her daughter's birth; and emigrating to the United States with help from HIAS. Mrs. R. tells of frequently discussing her experiences with her husband; her daughter's resulting depression; deriving strength from discussions of their futures while in camps; and her husband's death.
Author/Creator: R., Helen, 1923-
Published: New York, N.Y. : A Living Memorial to the Holocaust-Museum of Jewish Heritage, 1991
Interview Date: November 12, 1991.
Locale: Poland
Sosnowiec (Województwo Śląskie)
Wolbrom (Poland)
Sosnowiec (Województwo Śląskie, Poland)
Munich (Germany)
Cite As: Helen R. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1988). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
Other Authors/Editors: Strochlic, Kathy, interviewer.

Physical Details

Language: English
Copies: 2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Physical Description: 1 videorecording (1 hr., 48 min.) : col

Keywords & Subjects

Subjects (Local Yale): Antisemitism Prewar.
Aid by non-Jews.
Mutual aid.
Postwar experiences.
Postwar effects.
Survivor-child relations.
Subjects: Holocaust survivors. Video tapes. Women. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Jewish. Jewish ghettos. Jews--Poland--Sosnowiec (Województwo Śląskie) Forced labor. Concentration camps--Psychological aspects. Sisters. Poland. Wolbrom (Poland) Sosnowiec (Województwo Śląskie, Poland) Munich (Germany) Oral histories (document genres) R., Helen,--1923- Peterswaldau (Concentration camp) HIAS (Agency)

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/4285869
Record last modified:: 2018-05-29 11:46:00
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4285869

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