Overview
- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Michel M., who was born in Wasilków, Poland in 1927. He describes an affluent childhood prior to 1933; increasing antisemitism; brief German invasion; Soviet occupation; assisting Jewish refugees from the German zone; German invasion in June 1941; hiding with his family in Zabłudów after being warned by his father's non-Jewish acquaintance of a mass killing; ghettoization in Białystok; learning his father's arrest was imminent; their transfer to the Pruz︠h︡any ghetto in November 1941 to save his father; choosing not to escape in order to remain with his parents; deportation to Auschwitz in 1942; separation from his parents and sister; constructing crematoria and sorting clothing in Birkenau; one year of slave labor at I.G. Farben; Soviet POWs hiding him among them; transfer to Dora; continuing help from the Soviets; sadistic public hangings; transfer to Bergen-Belsen; and liberation by British troops. Mr. M. recounts returning to Białystok; disappointment at continuing antisemitism; reunion with his sister in Czechoslovakia; traveling to Paris with Haganah; marriage to a survivor in 1949; and emigration to Canada. He discusses relations between national groups in the camps; his will to survive; continuing nightmares; and sharing his experiences with his children while teaching them to respect all people.
- Published
- Vancouver, B.C. : Vancouver Holocaust Centre Society, 1984
- Interview Date
- September 19,1984.
- Locale
- Poland
Białystok
Belarus
Pruz︠h︡any
Wasilków (Poland)
Białystok (Poland)
Zabłudów (Poland)
Czechoslovakia
Paris (France) - Cite As
- Michel M. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-3072). 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 (1 hr., 48 min.) : col
Keywords & Subjects
- Subjects (Local Yale)
- Child survivors.
Antisemitism Prewar.
Soviet occupation.
Mutual aid.
Aid by non-Jews.
Postwar experiences.
Postwar effects.
Survivor-child relations. - Subjects
- Holocaust survivors. Nightmares. Video tapes. Men. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Jewish. World War, 1939-1945--Children. Jewish ghettos. Jews--Poland--Białystok. Jews--Belarus--Pruz︠h︡any. Forced labor. Concentration camps--Psychological aspects. Concentration camps--Sociological aspects. World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities. Poland. Wasilków (Poland) Białystok (Poland) Zabłudów (Poland) Czechoslovakia. Paris (France) Oral histories (document genres) M., Michel,--1927- Birkenau (Concentration camp) Interessengemeinschaft Farbenindustrie Aktiengesellschaft. Haganah (Organization) Auschwitz (Concentration camp) Dora (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/4290309
- Record last modified:
- 2018-06-04 13:27:00
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4290309
Additional Resources
Librarian ViewDownload & Licensing
- Terms of Use
- This record is digitized but cannot be downloaded online.
In-Person Research
- Requires Research Visit
- Plan a Research Visit
- Find Viewing Location
Request Access from Yale University Libraries
- Requires Yale University Libraries Permission
- Accessing Fortunoff interviews
- Log in to Request and View
- About the Fortunoff Archive
