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Estelle B. Holocaust testimony (HVT-395) interviewed by Reva Leizman,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-395

Videotape testimony of Estelle B., who was born in Lask, Poland. She recounts a large, extended family; German invasion in 1939; ghettoization; hiding from round-ups; a public hanging; her older brother being taken as one of ten hostages and shot; round-up of the town's Jews to a church in 1942; transfer with her sister and another brother to the Łódź ghetto; forced factory labor; deportation with her sister to Auschwitz in 1944; her sister sharing food and encouraging her; transfer with her sister to Neukölln; slave labor in a munitions factory; their transfer to Bergen-Belsen, Oranienburg and Ravensbrück; transfer to Sweden via Denmark in Swedish Red Cross busses prior to liberation (Folke Bernadotte negotiated this release); kindness from the Swedes; emigration to the United States in 1946 to join relatives (they treated her like their own child); assistance from HIAS; marriage; and the births of her children. Ms. B. discusses losing hope in the camps; the importance of her sister to her survival; nightmares and health problems resulting from her experiences; and difficulties sharing her story, even with her children, due to efforts to "block out" her painful memories. She shows photographs.

Author/Creator
B., Estelle.
Published
Cleveland, Ohio : National Council of Jewish Women, Holocaust Archive Project, 1984
Interview Date
August 27, 1984.
Locale
Poland
Łask
Łódź
Łask (Poland)
Denmark
Sweden
Language
English
Copies
2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Estelle B. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-395). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.