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Margita H. Holocaust testimony (HVT-3675) interviewed by Peter Salner and Eva Riecanská,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-3675

Videotape testimony of Margita H., who was born in Šamorín, Czechoslovakia (presently Slovakia) in 1923. She recounts visiting grandparents in Martin; moving to Vel̕ké Leváre, then Tomášov; attending school in Bratislava; expulsion in 1938 due to anti-Jewish laws; participating in Hashomer Hatzair in Nové Zámky and Budapest; returning to Tomášov; German occupation; forced relocation to Rastice; working in Hubice; transfer to Dunajská Streda; deportation to Auschwitz/Birkenau; separation with her sister from their mother (they never saw her again); remaining with a group from Šamorín; their transfer to Płasźow six days later; slave labor in a quarry; public executions; hospitalization; transfer back to Auschwitz; hospitalization; assistance from a nurse whom she knew from Martin; transfer to Augsburg; improved conditions; assistance from their civilian supervisor; her sister's illness; the civilian doctor arranging her sister's transfer to the hospital in Dachau; learning a prayer and repeating it often for her sister's recovery; her transfer to Dachau (she faked appendicitis); liberation by United States troops in April 1945; traveling through Plzeň to Bratislava, then Šamorín; reunion with her father and cousin in Tomášov; difficulty recovering their property; and marriage in 1947. Ms. H. discusses the importance of being with the group from Šamorín to her and her sister's survival; relations between national groups in the camps; silence in Slovakia concerning the Holocaust until recently; and regrets that she has not shared her experiences with her children. She shows camp artifacts.

Author/Creator
H., Margita, 1923-
Published
Bratislava, Slovakia : Milan Šimečka Foundation, 1995
Interview Date
May 3, 1995.
Locale
Czechoslovakia
Šamorín (Slovakia)
Martin (Slovakia)
Vel̕ké Leváre (Slovakia)
Tomášov (Slovakia)
Bratislava (Slovakia)
Nové Zámky (Slovakia)
Budapest (Hungary)
Rastice (Hungary)
Hubice (Slovakia)
Dunajská Streda (Slovakia)
Plzeň (Czech Republic)
Language
Slovak
Copies
3 copies: 1/2 in. VHS dub; Betacam SP dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Margita H. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-3675). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
 
View in Yale University Library Catalog: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/4292124
Record last modified: 2018-06-04 13:28:00
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4292124