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Paul H. Holocaust testimony (HVT-2005) interviewed by Jaschael Pery,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-2005

Videotape testimony of Paul H., who was born in Bielsko-Biała, Poland in 1925. Mr. H. recalls German invasion; his family's flight to Kraków; avoiding round-ups; traveling to Bielsko for business; arrest and imprisonment; Gestapo torture; release after two months when his sister bribed a guard; returning to Kraków; escaping, with his brother, to the Soviet zone; visiting his family in Kraków; remaining when the borders were closed; ghettoization in Tarnów; execution of his parents and younger sister; deportation to Płaszów in 1943; separation from his other sister when he was deported to Auschwitz; many prisoners dying during transfer to Mauthausen; forced labor in a metal factory; transfer to Ebensee; liberation; a two-month hospitalization; learning his sister and brother had perished; traveling to Italy intending to emigrate to Israel; living in Milan; reporting the presence of a Płaszów guard; emigrating to Canada in 1948; and moving to the United States. Mr. H. notes recurring nightmares; his daughter's reluctance to hear about his experiences; and not relating those things that are "too terrible" to discuss. He shows documents and photographs.

Author/Creator
H., Paul, 1925-
Published
New York, N.Y. : A Living Memorial to the Holocaust-Museum of Jewish Heritage, 1991
Interview Date
December 9, 1991.
Locale
Poland
Tarnów (Województwo Małopolskie)
Bielsko-Biała (Poland)
Kraków (Poland)
Tarnów (Województwo Małopolskie, Poland)
Milan (Italy)
Language
English
Copies
2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Paul H. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2005). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.