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Jacques G. Holocaust testimony (HVT-1836) interviewed by Anita Tarsi and Iris Berlatzky,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-1836

Videotape testimony of Jacques G., who was born in Athens, Greece in 1912. He recalls moving to Thessalonikē; his father's Italian citizenship; German invasion; marriage in 1943; moving to Athens with his family due to their citizenship; benign conditions under Italian occupation; Italian capitulation in fall 1943; deportation with his family to Auschwitz in April 1944; selection with his brother for the Sonderkommando; working with him in Crematorium II moving bodies; a friend committing suicide on an open pyre; visiting his wife twice in the women's camp; bringing her food; recognizing two cousins who were to be gassed; giving them food and telling them where to stand in the gas chamber to avoid pain; placing their ashes in labeled jars; the October 1944 uprising in Crematorium IV; having to cremate the bodies of those who revolted; surreptitiously joining the death march in January 1944 (he and his group were to be killed); incarceration in Mauthausen and Gusen; liberation in May; returning to Greece; reunion with his wife; and emigration to Israel in 1949. Mr. G. discusses camaraderie within the Sonderkommando; prisoners who prayed daily; his optimism; keeping a diary which he left in Auschwitz; and sharing his story with his daughter and grandchildren.

Author/Creator
G., Jacques, 1912-
Published
Ramat Aviv, Israel : Beth Hatefutsoth, Nahum Goldman Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, 1988
Interview Date
June 30, 1988.
Locale
Greece
Athens (Greece)
Thessalonikē (Greece)
Language
Hebrew
Copies
2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Jacques G. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1836). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
 
View in Yale University Library Catalog: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/4296189
Record last modified: 2018-05-29 11:58:00
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4296189