Overview
- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Akiva K., who was born in Katowice, Poland in 1929. He describes his affluent family; antisemitic incidents; moving to Warsaw shortly before German invasion; returning to Katowice; his father traveling to the Soviet-occupied zone; living with his grandmother in Wolbrom; his bar mitzvah; moving to Sosnowiec; participating in No'ar ha-Tsiyoni; staying in a village with his father; returning to his mother in Sosnowiec; being protected from deportation by a doctor who lived with his mother; ghettoization; hiding in a bunker; obtaining false papers; a futile escape attempt; smuggling themselves to the Kamionka ghetto; deportation to Auschwitz/Birkenau; remaining with his mother's friend (he eventually perished); falsifying his age; forced labor; public executions; helping a friend smuggle food; a death march and train transport to Althammer, then Mauthausen; cannibalism; transfer to Gunskirchen; and liberation by United States troops. Mr. K. recounts living in Wels displaced persons camp; illegally traveling to Italy with the Jewish Brigade; emigration to Palestine; detention by the British; fighting in the Israeli War of Independence; emigration to the United States in 1958; marriage; and sharing parts of his story with his children. He shows photographs, documents and his belt worn during the war.
- Published
- New York, N.Y. : A Living Memorial to the Holocaust-New York Museum of Jewish Heritage, 1993
- Interview Date
- November 23, 1993.
- Locale
- Poland
Sosnowiec (Województwo Śląskie)
Italy
Katowice (Poland)
Warsaw (Poland)
Sosnowiec (Województwo Śląskie, Poland)
Wolbrom (Poland)
Palestine - Cite As
- Akiva K. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2715). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
Physical Details
- Language
- English
- Copies
- 2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
- Physical Description
- 1 videorecording (3 hr., 52 min.) : col
Keywords & Subjects
- Subjects (Local Yale)
- Child survivors.
Antisemitism Prewar.
Aid by non-Jews.
Hiding.
Bunkers.
False papers.
Mutual aid.
Postwar experiences.
Survivor-child relations. - Subjects
- Holocaust survivors. Video tapes. Men. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Jewish. World War, 1939-1945--Children. Bar mitzvah. Jewish ghettos. Jews--Poland--Sosnowiec (Województwo Śląskie) Escapes. Forced labor. World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities. Friendship. Cannibalism. Death marches. Israel-Arab War, 1948-1949. Poland. Italy. Katowice (Poland) Warsaw (Poland) Sosnowiec (Województwo Śląskie, Poland) Wolbrom (Poland) Palestine--Emigration and immigration. Oral histories (document genres) Refugee camps. K., Akiva,--1929- Noʻar ha-Tsiyoni (Organization) Auschwitz (Concentration camp) Birkenau (Concentration camp) Mauthausen (Concentration camp) Gunskirchen (Concentration camp) Sosnowiec (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/4288710
- Record last modified:
- 2018-05-29 11:58:00
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4288710
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