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Ruth M. Holocaust testimony (HVT-2717) interviewed by Joni-Sue Blinderman,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-2717

Videotape testimony of Ruth M., who was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1924. She recalls a wonderful childhood prior to her father's suicide; moving to her grandmother's with her mother and twin brother; German occupation; constant fear; she and her brother refusing to leave when her mother arranged their emigration to England; marriage; deportation to Theresienstadt with her husband and their families; transfer to Auschwitz; separation from her husband and twin brother; a last visit with her mother; useless slave labor; medical examinations; train transfer to a factory; attempting to help others during a death march; two weeks without food or water in cattle cars; transfer to another factory; traveling to Denmark in an exchange arranged by Count Folke Bernadotte; transfer to Malmö, Sweden; living in Stockholm with a Czech-Jewish couple; the trauma of learning her entire family had been killed; moving to Oslo with the couple; remarriage; and emigration to the United States. Mrs. M. discusses her state of mind in the camps; bitterness toward her uncle who did not assist her family in escaping from Czechoslovakia; unwillingness to share her experiences with her husband and children; and deciding not to make the Holocaust a subject of her art work.

Author/Creator
M., Ruth, 1924-
Published
New York, N.Y. : A Living Memorial to the Holocaust-Museum of Jewish Heritage, 1993
Interview Date
December 7, 1993.
Locale
Prague (Czech Republic)
Czechoslovakia
Denmark
Malmö (Sweden)
Stockholm (Sweden)
Oslo (Norway)
Language
English
Copies
2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Ruth M. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2717). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.