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Susan P. Holocaust testimony (HVT-2124) interviewed by Gillian Green Douek,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-2124

Videotape testimony of Susan P., who was born in Felsőgöd, Hungary in 1930. She recalls attending public school there and in Vác; visiting relatives in Nógrád with her brother; her family's strong Hungarian identity; anti-Jewish restrictions; briefly attending school in Budapest; a round-up of all Jewish men (she never saw her father again); orders to move to Vác in 1944; transfer to Gödöllő; pervasive terror and fear; a horrendous train trip to Auschwitz; separation from her family (she never saw her mother again); friendship with other Hungarian girls; fantasizing together about food; transfer to a labor camp; improved conditions; a death march to Bergen-Belsen; mountains of corpses and lice; finding a neighbor from home (she died); becoming very ill; liberation by British troops; hospitalization; transfer to Helsingborg, Sweden; hospitalization for eighteen months; wonderful treatment by the Swedes; notification from the Red Cross that her brother had survived; being sent to Canada via London; living in a wonderful group home in Toronto; meeting her future husband; marriage; the births of three children; emigration to England in 1961; and receiving a degree in history. Ms. P. discusses the difficulties of life after the war; a reunion with her brother in Felsőgöd in 1963; her lost childhood; ever present pain; sharing her story with her children when they were older; and participating in survivor groups.

Author/Creator
P., Susan, 1930-
Published
London, England : British Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, 1993
Interview Date
January 20, 1993.
Locale
Vác (Hungary)
Göd (Hungary)
Nógrád (Hungary)
Hungary
Budapest (Hungary)
Gödöllő (Hungary)
Helsingborg (Sweden)
London (England)
Toronto (Ont.)
Language
English
Copies
2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Susan P. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2124). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.