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Zygmunt L. Holocaust testimony (HVT-2169) interviewed by Naomi Rappaport,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-2169

Videotape testimony of Zygmunt L., who was born in Czechowice-Dziedzice, Poland in 1922, the oldest of three children. He recounts attending public school; celebrating his bar mitzvah; secondary education in Bielsko-Biała; German invasion; fleeing with one sister and other relatives to Chrzanów; his parents and other sister fleeing to Lʹviv; returning home; living with his uncle and sister; forced labor cleaning streets; ghettoization in Wadowice; receiving food from his father's non-Jewish associate; deportation to Gogolin, Gross Masselwitz, Annaberg, Brande, then Ludwigsdorf; slave labor building railroads and barracks; locals giving them food en route to work; transfer to Markstädt; a privileged position assisting German engineers; transfer to Fünfteichen a year later; a death march to Gross-Rosen in January 1945; train transport to Buchenwald; Allied bombardments en route; transfer to Flossenbürg; a death march to Dachau; liberation by United States troops; recovering in St. Ottilien; meeting his future wife; moving to Bindermichl; working for UNRRA and the Joint; serving as a witness at the Dachau trials; reunion with his parents (they had survived in Siberia); and emigration to the United States. Mr. L. discusses harmonious relations among prisoners in camps; continuing strong bonds with other survivors; and not sharing his experience with his children until they asked. He shows photographs and documents.

Author/Creator
L., Zygmunt, 1922-
Published
New York, N.Y. : A Living Memorial to the Holocaust-Museum of Jewish Heritage, 1992
Interview Date
October 22, 1992.
Locale
Poland
Wadowice
Germany
Czechowice-Dziedzice (Poland)
Bielsko-Biała (Poland)
Chrzanów (Poland)
Language
English
Copies
3 copies: 3/4 in. dub; Betacam SP restoration master; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Zygmunt L. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2169). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.