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Sonia W. Holocaust testimony (HVT-2751) interviewed by Barbara Devinki,

Oral History | Digitized | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-2751

Overview

Summary: Videotape testimony of Sonia W., who was born in Międzyrzec Podlaski, Poland in 1925, one of three children. She recalls attending public school; German invasion; forced labor; hiding with her family during deportations; ghettoization; her brother placing her sister in hiding with a non-Jew; her father and brother hiding with another non-Jew; their betrayal and execution; deportation with her mother to Majdanek; public hangings of escapees; separation from her mother (she never saw her again) when she was transferred to Auschwitz/Birkenau; hiding during selections; a beating when their work was not up to standard; a death march; transfer in open trains to Bergen-Belsen; working in the kitchen; sharing extra food with others; being shot during liberation; hospitalization; assistance from the Red Cross; returning home; learning her sister was alive; returning to Germany; marriage; her daughter's birth in Bad Nauheim displaced persons camp; and emigration to the United States. Ms. W. notes testifying against a guard at a war crime trial. She shows a scarf her sister had from their mother; sings a song her brother wrote; and recites poetry that she wrote immediately after the war.
Author/Creator: W., Sonia, 1925-
Published: Kansas City, Kansas : Midwest Center for Holocaust Education, 1994
Interview Date: August 25, 1994.
Locale: Poland
Międzyrzec Podlaski
Międzyrzec Podlaski (Poland)
Cite As: Sonia W. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2751). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
Other Authors/Editors: Devinki, Barbara, interviewer.

Physical Details

Language: English
Copies: 2 copies: 3/4 in. master; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Physical Description: 1 videorecording (1 hr., 52 min.) : col

Keywords & Subjects

Subjects (Local Yale): Postwar experiences.
Mutual aid.
Child survivors.
Hiding.
Subjects: Holocaust survivors. Video tapes. Women. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Jewish. World War, 1939-1945--Children. Forced labor. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Songs and music. Mothers and daughters. War crime trials. World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities. Death marches. Refugee camps. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Poetry. Jewish ghettos. Jews--Poland--Międzyrzec Podlaski. Międzyrzec Podlaski (Poland) Poland. Oral histories (document genres) W., Sonia,--1925- Majdanek (Concentration camp) Auschwitz (Concentration camp) Birkenau (Concentration camp) Bergen-Belsen (Concentration camp) DP-Camp Bergen-Belsen. International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

Administrative Notes

Holder of Originals: Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
Special Collection: Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies

Link to Yale University Library Catalog:: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/4296986
Record last modified:: 2018-06-04 13:28:00
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4296986

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