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Celia K. Holocaust testimony (HVT-1554) interviewed by Toby Blum-Dobkin and Hannah Levinsky-Koevary,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-1554

Videotape testimony of Celia K., who was born in Lʹviv, Ukraine (then Poland) in 1935. She recalls their relative affluence; a warm, extended family; cordial relations with non-Jews; German invasion in 1941; former neighbors turning on them; her father's draft into the Soviet military; ghettoization; harsh conditions including starvation, disease, and frequent deaths; her mother going to a labor camp; hiding on her own during round-ups (adults would not take in a young child fearing exposure); witnessing soldiers violently killing children; escaping with her mother, who had arranged to hide her with a Catholic family; living with loving foster parents for a year; having to leave when it became too dangerous; her foster mother, unbeknownst to anyone else, hiding her in a barn; finding her mother was already there; liberation by Soviet troops a year later; reunion with her father; living in displaced persons camps in Germany; emigration to the United States in 1949, when she believes her life truly began; her brother's birth; and caring for him due to her mother's emotional problems. Ms. K. discusses continuing fears and nightmares resulting from her experiences; not sharing her story with her children; and the impact of her experience on them, despite her secrecy.

Author/Creator
K., Celia, 1935-
Published
New York, N.Y. : A Living Memorial to the Holocaust-Museum of Jewish Heritage, 1990
Interview Date
July 11, 1990.
Locale
Ukraine
Lʹviv
Lʹviv (Ukraine)
Poland
Language
English
Copies
2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Celia K. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1554). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
 
View in Yale University Library Catalog: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/4295461
Record last modified: 2018-05-29 11:47:00
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4295461