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Israel M. Holocaust tesimony (HVT-2981) interviewed by Yannis Thanassekos and Claire Paulus,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-2981

Videotape testimony of Israel M., who was born in Mannheim, Germany in 1921. He recounts his family's move to Brussels in 1922; moving to Antwerp; his father's bankruptcy in 1930; being supported by his fourteen year-old brother; working as a diamond cutter; German invasion; working with a German refugee (his future wife) smuggling Jews to Belgium; marriage; arrest; incarceration in Antwerp, then Malines; an encounter with Mala Zimetbaum; choosing to remain with his wife when he could have left; his deportation to Laurahütte; a Jewish funeral when the first prisoner died, but none thereafter; transfer to Sakrau; not escaping in order to remain with his brother-in-law; transfer to Szopienice; slave labor laying rails; receiving food from British POWs in the Palestine Brigade; transfer to Auschwitz/Birkenau, then Warsaw; clearing rubble from the ghetto; Greek prisoners baking matzos on Passover; finding diamonds which provided medical attention when he was ill, extra food, a job as the kapos's secretary, and help for many other prisoners; transfer to Dachau, then Kaufering; a death march; abandonment by the guards; repatriation; and reunion with his wife. Mr. M. notes many details about fellow-prisoners and camp life. He discusses his continuing nightmares.

Author/Creator
M., Israel, 1921-
Published
Brussels, Belgium : Fondation Auschwitz, 1992
Interview Date
December 2, 1992.
Locale
Germany
Mannheim (Germany)
Brussels (Belgium)
Antwerp (Belgium)
Language
French
Copies
2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Israel M. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2981). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.