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Anna S. Holocaust testimony (HVT-2274) interviewed by Zelda Kaplan,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-2274

Videotape testimony of Anna S., who was born in Podkamenʹ, Poland (presently Ukraine) in 1923, one of eight children. She recalls attending school; Soviet occupation; German invasion; anti-Jewish restrictions; joining her boyfriend to work on a village mayor's farm; hiding in the woods with her father, brothers, boyfriend, and other relatives; digging a bunker for the winter; their discovery; building another bunker in a different location; working for farmers in the spring; building another bunker; becoming ill; her brother leaving to obtain medication; announcing when he returned that the Soviets had liberated the area; returning to Podkamenʹ; retreating to Pochaïv; the men joining the Soviet military; traveling with the woman and elderly to Z︠H︡ytomyr; obtaining food from the Red Cross; her future husband's release since he was not fit for battle; traveling with him to Rivne, Dubno, then Bytom; their marriage in November 1945; traveling with Beriḥah to Germany; living in Pocking displaced persons camp; assistance from UNRRA and the Red Cross; contacting her aunt in the United States; and emigration to join her in 1949, with assistance from HIAS. Ms. S. discusses extreme hardship hiding in the forest for three years; their inability to help wandering orphaned children; the impossibility of conveying the reality of her experiences to non-survivors; and gratitude to her husband, to whom she attributes her survival.

Author/Creator
S., Anna, 1923-
Published
Peabody, Mass. : Holocaust Center of the Jewish Federation of the North Shore, 1992
Interview Date
August 25, 1992.
Locale
Poland
Podkamenʹ (Ukraine)
Pochaïv (Ukraine)
Z︠H︡ytomyr (Ukraine)
Rivne (Rivnensʹka oblastʹ, Ukraine)
Dubno (Ukraine)
Bytom (Poland)
Language
English
Copies
2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; Betacam SP restoration master; Betacam SP restoration submaster; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Anna S. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2274). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.