Irene F. Holocaust testimony (HVT-2483) interviewed by Rivie Zeiler,
Videotape testimony of Irene F., who was born in Drohobych, Poland (presently Ukraine) in 1931, the youngest of three children. She recounts her family's affluence; Soviet occupation in September 1939; moving to avoid deportation to Siberia; German invasion in 1941; an immediate pogrom; hiding with non-Jews for three days; her brother's illness and death; her father and sister obtaining jobs exempting them from deportation; her father trading goods for food; hiding with her mother during round-ups; organizing classes with other children; her father obtaining work papers for her as a kitchen worker; sleeping in a basement to avoid round-ups; the family being caught; her mother running so she would not have to witness their shooting; hearing gunfire; their release; returning to their quarters; finding her mother, who had been slightly wounded; her father contacting their former maid who smuggled her out of the ghetto; hiding with her by herself for ten months; her mother joining her; arrival of her father and sister when the ghetto was liquidated; her father leaving because they could not all hide in one room; a religious Christian hiding her father and bringing them news of him monthly; informing them her father had been caught; liberation by Soviets in June 1944; their clandestine departure to protect their rescuer from antisemitic reprisals; traveling to Kraków; reunion with her father; their rescuer living with them as a cherished family member; attending school; pervasive antisemitism; and emigration with her family to Israel in 1950, then to the United States in 1954. Ms. F. discusses not sharing her experiences for many years; writing about them for her son; continuing contact with their rescuer; and she and her sister bringing her to the United States for a six-week visit in the 1970s.
- Published
- Mahwah, N.J. : Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, 1993
- Interview Date
- February 26, 1993.
- Locale
- Ukraine
Drohobych
Poland
Drohobych (Ukraine)
Kraków (Poland)
Israel - Language
-
English
- Copies
- 2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
- Cite As
- Irene F. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2483). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
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View in Yale University Library Catalog: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/4287620
Record last modified: 2018-05-30 11:28:00
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4287620