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Ronald L. Holocaust testimony (HVT-2123) interviewed by Gillian Green Douek,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-2123

Videotape testimony of Ronald L., who was born in Wieliezka, Poland in 1929. He recalls his family's affluence; warm relations with his large, extended family; attending Polish school; German invasion; briefly traveling east; returning home from Mielec; expulsion from school; attending a private school; his mother obtaining false papers for him and bringing him to his Polish teacher's home (he never saw her again); his teacher's daughter bringing him to Kraków; living with a Polish couple for a week (they brought him to the ghetto, fearing to keep him); finding his father; registering as two years older than he was; forced labor; his Polish nanny bringing them food weekly; transfer to Płaszów in late 1942, then to a barrack at the factory; receiving extra food from Polish civilian workers; transfer to Płaszów in September 1944, then to standing cattle cars for several days (Oskar Schindler hosed them down to relieve the heat); transfer to Mauthausen, then St. Valentin; assistance from a Polish doctor; his father's death; a cousin and friend teaching him the kaddish; Allied bombings; transfer to Ebensee; deteriorating conditions; cannibalism; liberation by United States troops; hospitalization; traveling to Puglia with the Jewish Brigade to emigrate to Palestine; hospitalization; contacts from relatives in England; a cousin arranging his emigration; living in a camp in Maghull, then with cousins in London; studying chemical engineering; and his successful career. Mr. L. shows photographs which his nanny saved.

Author/Creator
L., Ronald, 1929-
Published
London, England : British Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, 1993
Interview Date
February 24, 1993.
Locale
Poland
Kraków
Wieliczka (Poland)
Mielec (Poland)
Kraków (Poland)
Puglia (Italy)
Maghull (England)
London (England)
Language
English
Copies
2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Ronald L. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2123). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.