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Lipa A. Holocaust testimony (HVT-1842) interviewed by Yoram Amit and Raphael Rozner,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-1842

Videotape testimony of Lipa A., who was born in Białystok, Poland in 1927. He recalls a wonderful childhood; antisemitic harassment; Soviet occupation in 1939; persecution as factory owners; learning his father's arrest was imminent; moving to Vilkavišykis; German invasion; moving to Narva, then the Białystok ghetto; attending a school organized by the ghetto head, Barash; smuggling food for his family; the birth of his brother's daughter; building a bunker; hiding during round-ups; his brother, his wife, and daughter not hiding during the final liquidation in August 1943; being discovered; observing dead bodies all over (there had been an uprising); separation of genders; train transport to Treblinka where the women and children were unloaded (he never saw his mother or sister again); continuing to Majdanek; preventing his father's suicide; encountering his brother; separation from his brother when they were transferred to Bliżyn (they never saw him again); helping his father when he was ill; his death in December; losing hope; transfer to Płaszów, Mauthausen, Melk, and Ebensee; a Romani who assisted him; being injured by a friend for "stealing" food from him; liberation by United States troops in May 1945; Soviet prisoners killing kapos and others for revenge; his injury not healing; traveling to Florence; and emigration to Palestine. Mr. A. discusses recently traveling to Europe with his son, visiting the camps and towns where he had lived; dislike of politicizing and commercializing the Holocaust; continuing relations with camp friends; admiration for Barash, head of the Białystok ghetto; and many details of camp and ghetto life.

Author/Creator
A., Lipa, 1927.
Published
Ramat Aviv, Israel : Beth Hatefutsoth, Nahum Goldman Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, 1989 and 1990
Interview Date
May 25, June 21 and November 23, 1989 and March 1, 1990.
Locale
Poland
Białystok
Białystok (Poland)
Vilkaviškis (Lithuania)
Narva (Estonia)
Florence (Italy)
Palestine
Language
Hebrew
Copies
2 copies; 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Lipa A. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1842). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
 
View in Yale University Library Catalog: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/4296207
Record last modified: 2018-06-04 13:31:00
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4296207