- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Pavel K., who was born in Borčice, Slovakia in 1938. He recounts deportation with his family to Žilina in 1942; their release due to intervention from a well-connected uncle; living in Bratislava; being hidden by their non-Jewish landlord in 1944; their arrest by Hlinka Guard; his father being tortured and stating their false papers were supplied by a cousin (Jozef K.), who was serving in the partisans so could not be found; deportation to Sered;̕ transport, with his mother, to Bergen-Belsen; her bringing a book and reading to him; starvation; serious illnesses; placement in the infirmary; visits from his mother; she and an uncle obtaining medicine for him; playing with other children; his trauma upon seeing prisoners beaten to death; liberation by British troops in April 1945; recuperating for two weeks; their journey to Prague, then Bratislava; reunion with his brother; and learning his father had perished in Buchenwald. Mr. K. discusses the importance of his mother's optimism and assistance in dealing with constant fear and to his survival; corpses becoming normal in Belsen; his mother's chronic illnesses resulting from Bergen-Belsen; and his painful visit to Bergen-Belsen after his mother's recent death. He shows photographs and memorabilia.
- Author/Creator
- K., Pavel, 1938-
- Published
- Bratislava, Slovakia : Milan Šimečka Foundation, 1995
- Interview Date
- July 17, 1995.
- Locale
- Czechoslovakia
Borčice (Slovakia)
Bratislava (Slovakia)
Prague (Czech Republic)
- Cite As
- Pavel K. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-3690). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
- Other Authors/Editors
- Salner, Peter, interviewer.
Králová, Ingrid, interviewer.
- Notes
-
This testimony is in Slovak.
Associated material: Jozef K. Holocaust testimony [cousin] (HVT-3664), Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
