Advanced Search

Learn About The Holocaust

Special Collections

My Saved Research

Login

Register

Help

Skip to main content

Halina K. Holocaust testimony (HVT-1053) interviewed by Bernard Weinstein and Robin Rijz,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-1053

Videotape testimony of Halina K., who was born in Częstochowa, Poland in 1929, the only child of wealthy parents. She recalls traveling to Warsaw with her mother to avoid German invasion; returning home six weeks later; anti-Jewish regulations, including confiscation of their business; ghettoization; attending a clandestine school; hiding with her father during a round-up; running away when a policeman neared them; escaping from the ghetto; a Polish friend briefly hiding her; Polish men assisting her in a village; finding a Jewish work commando to join; finding her father there; his deportation the following day (she never saw him again); slave labor for HASAG; escaping to Będzin using false papers; entering the ghetto to join relatives; volunteering for deportation; slave labor in Bolkenhain, then Landshut; a close friendship with two others to which she attributes her survival; sharing their food; transfer to Grünberg; a death march to Helmbrechts, then Czechoslovakia; Czechs throwing them food; escaping with her friend in Prapor̆is̆tĕ; assistance from Germans; hospitalization; United States troops helping them; testifying for a German who had helped them; transport to Salzburg displaced persons camp; and meeting her husband there. Ms. K. discusses camp life and her state of mind.

Author/Creator
K., Halina, 1929-
Published
Union, N.J. : Kean College Oral Testimonies Project, 1987
Interview Date
March 30, 1987 and July 23, 1987.
Locale
Poland
Częstochowa
Będzin
Prapor̆is̆tĕ (Czech Republic)
Częstochowa (Poland)
Będzin (Poland)
Language
English
Copies
2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Halina K. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1053). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.