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Joseph E. Holocaust testimony (HVT-2561) interviewed by Joni-Sue Blinderman,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-2561

Videotape testimony of Joseph E., who was born in Kosyny, Czechoslovakia (presently Ukraine) in 1920, one of four children. He recalls attending a Hungarian school; living with relatives in Mukacheve to attend the Hebrew gymnasium; participating in a Zionist group; Hungarian occupation in 1938; violence against Jews; graduating in 1940; moving to Budapest; draft into a Hungarian slave labor battalion; working in several locations in Hungary, Transylvania and Yugoslavia; transfer to Lʹviv, then Brody in 1942; burying dead soldiers on the Russian front; a privileged position as a mechanic in Proskuriv; improved treatment by his commander; transfer to Stanislav; retreating toward the Hungarian border in 1944; their commander allowing them to escape; arrival of Soviet troops; being taken as POWs to Zaporiz︠h︡z︠h︡i︠a︡; joining the Czech military in Moscow; advancing to Brno; searching for his family in Kosyny (none survived); living with cousins in Brno; attending university; emigration to Israel in 1949; military service in the 1956 Sinai Campaign; and emigration with his wife and children to the United States in 1958. Mr. E. discusses the importance of luck to his survival. He shows photographs.

Author/Creator
E., Joseph, 1920-
Published
New York, N.Y. : A Living Memorial to the Holocaust-Museum of Jewish Heritage, 1993
Interview Date
June 8, 1993.
Locale
Hungary
Ukraine
Czechoslovakia
Kosyny (Ukraine)
Mukacheve (Ukraine)
Budapest (Hungary)
Lʹviv (Ukraine)
Brody (Lʹvivsʹka oblastʹ, Ukraine)
Proskuriv (Ukraine)
Stanislav (Ukraine)
Zaporiz︠h︡z︠h︡i︠a︡ (Ukraine)
Moscow (Russia)
Brno (Czech Republic)
Israel
Language
English
Copies
3 copies: 3/4 in. dub; Betacam SP restoration master; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Joseph E. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2561). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.