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Zoltan J. Holocaust testimony (HVT-282) interviewed by Syd Mandelbaum,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-282

Videotape testimony of Zoltan J., who was born in Mukacheve, Czechoslovakia (presently Ukraine) in 1922. He describes his large extended family and long history in the area; their affluence; cordial relations with non-Jews; Hungarian occupation; expulsion from school; reinstatement due to his father's connections; his and his father's exclusion from slave labor battalions due to their business; ghettoization; transfer to a brick factory; deportation to Auschwitz; remaining with his father, uncle, and brother (his other relatives did not survive); their transfer to Warsaw four weeks later; clearing ghetto rubble; trading valuables they found for food; his father entering the hospital; killing of all the patients; a death march and train transport to Dachau; clearing Allied bombing rubble in Munich; transfer to Kaufering; his brother singing for the SS for extra food; his disappearance; saving a "living corpse" when assigned to bury bodies (they see each other to the present time); liberation in April 1945; hospitalization; wanting to kill all Germans, but deciding not to; establishing a business in Prague with assistance from his father's attorney; emigration to the United States when the government was changing; marriage in Paris; and assisting the Haganah acquire weapons in 1947. Mr. J. discusses sharing his story with his children, particularly on Passover, and daily memories of his murdered family.

Author/Creator
J., Zoltan, 1922-
Published
Lawrence, N.Y. : Second Generation of Long Island, 1983
Interview Date
September 26, 1983.
Locale
Ukraine
Mukacheve
Mukacheve (Ukraine)
Czechoslovakia
Prague (Czech Republic)
Language
English
Copies
4 copies: 1/2 in. VHS master; Betacam SP restoration master; Betacam SP restoration submaster; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Zoltan J. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-282). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.