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Léon K. Holocaust testimony (HVT-2651) interviewed by Berthe Burko and Annette Wieviorka,

Oral History | Digitized | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-2651

Overview

Summary: Videotape testimony of Léon K., who was born in Lotte, Germany in 1911. He recalls moving to Paris in 1933; difficulties with his citizenship status starting in 1934; enlisting in the French military in 1941; German invasion; returning to Paris after the armistice; deportation to Pithiviers in May; playing chess and sharing food packages among his group; deportation to Auschwitz/Birkenau in June 1942; slave labor doing various jobs; public hangings; assistance from a prisoner-doctor when he was ill; observing corpses everywhere; a death march, then train transport to Ebensee; transfer to Mauthausen; liberation in May 1945; hospitalization in France; marriage, his daughter's birth; and becoming blind. Mr. K. discusses not understanding how he survived the severe conditions he experienced; the total randomness of survival; not trusting anyone due to his experiences; and not sharing them with anyone, including his daughter, when she asked.
Author/Creator: K., Léon, 1911-
Published: Paris, France : Témoignages pour mémoire, 1993
Interview Date: November 3, 1993.
Locale: Germany
Lotte (Germany)
Paris (France)
Cite As: Léon K. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2651). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
Other Authors/Editors: Burko, Berthe, interviewer.
Wieviorka, Annette, interviewer.
Notes: This testimony is in French.

Physical Details

Language: French
Copies: 2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Physical Description: 1 videorecording (1 hr., 46 min.) : col

Keywords & Subjects

Subjects (Local Yale): Mutual aid.
Postwar effects.
Postwar experiences.
Survivor-child relations.
Subjects: Holocaust survivors. Video tapes. Men. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Jewish. Jews--Migrations. Jewish refugees. World War, 1939-1945--Participation, Jewish. World War, 1939-1945--Participation, French. Forced labor. World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities. Concentration camps--Psychological aspects. Germany. Lotte (Germany) Paris (France) Oral histories (document genres) K., Léon,--1911- Pithiviers (Concentration camp) Auschwitz (Concentration camp) Birkenau (Concentration camp) Ebensee (Concentration camp) Mauthausen (Concentration camp)

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/4288493
Record last modified:: 2018-06-04 13:26:00
This page:: http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4288493

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