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Władysława Z. Holocaust testimony (HVT-3169) interviewed by Michel Sobelman,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-3169

Videotape testimony of Władysława Z., who was born in Łęczyca, Poland in 1913. She describes her large, Hasidic family; participating in socialist activities; antisemitic experiences at Warsaw University; recuperating from a broken leg in Rabka with Zionists friends; brief imprisonment for leftist activities; moving to Łódź; German invasion; moving to Białystok, then Stanislav in the Soviet zone; marriage; teaching near Korolëvka; cordial relations with Ukrainians and Poles; sending packages to her family in the Warsaw ghetto; visiting L'viv when Germany invaded the Soviet Union; returning to Korkëvka; trips to Kolomyi︠a︡; being smuggled into the Warsaw ghetto in March 1942; her parents' and sisters' deportations; escaping; receiving false papers; hiding her brother-in-law; blackmail and harassment by a Pole; helping another brother-in-law to hide; hearing non-Jews discuss the ghetto uprising; struggling to stay alive during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising; hiding until liberation by Soviet troops; working for the Ministry of Propaganda; moving to Łódź; and returning to Warsaw to work for the Ministry of Commerce. Mrs. Z. discusses her former belief in socialism which motivated her to remain in Poland; disavowing her Judaism until antisemitism in 1968 prompted her to reclaim her Jewish identity; and the importance to their survival of help from many non-Jews.

Author/Creator
Z., Władysława, 1913-
Published
Warsaw, Poland : Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, 1995
Interview Date
June 14, 1995.
Locale
Poland
Warsaw
Łęczyca (Łęczyca, Poland)
Warsaw (Poland)
Łódź (Poland)
Rabka (Województwo Małopolskie, Poland)
Białystok (Poland)
L'viv (Ukraine)
Kolmyi︠a︡ (Ukraine)
Stanislav (Ukraine)
Oleyëvo-Korolëvka (Ukraine)
Language
Polish
Copies
2 copies: 3/4 in. master; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Władysława Z. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-3169). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.