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Sara O. Holocaust testimony (HVT-3331) interviewed by Nathan Beyrak and Anita Tarsi,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-3331

Videotape testimony of Sara O., who was born in Włodawa, Poland in 1924, one of three sisters. She recounts German invasion; round-up of her father and grandfather with others as hostages; German withdrawal weeks later; brief Soviet occupation; German return; formation of a Judenrat; forced agricultural labor; observing the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941; arrival of Jews from other towns; her father's arrest; paying for his release; witnessing the shooting of a rabbi; round-ups and deportations; her family hiding in a bunker while she and her sister reported to work; being forced to remove corpses; transfer to Włodawa labor camp; learning her father was dead; smuggling her mother and younger sister into the camp; her grandfather joining them; building bunkers; hiding during liquidation in spring 1943; escaping to the forest with others; traveling to Adampol; joining the partisans; assignment to Soviet partisans; meeting her future husband; heavy casualties during battles in March 1944; liberation by Soviet troops; living in Manevichi (Prilesnoye); marriage; traveling to several cities including Homelʹ and Minsk; returning to Włodawa seeking relatives (they had all been killed); moving to Szczecin; her daughter's birth; entering Bavaria illegally in May 1946; assistance from UNRRA; her son's birth; and emigration to Israel in November 1948 via Marseille. Ms. O. discusses details of partisan life; testifying at war crime trials in Hannover and Hamburg; and visiting Poland in 1992.

Author/Creator
O., Sara, 1924-
Published
Tel Aviv, Israel : Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, 1992
Interview Date
February 20, 1992.
Locale
Poland
Włodawa
Germany
Włodowa (Poland)
Adampol (Poland)
Prylisne (Ukraine)
Homelʹ (Belarus)
Minsk (Belarus)
Szczecin (Poland)
Bavaria (Germany)
Marseille (France)
Hannover (Germany)
Hamburg (Germany)
Language
Hebrew
Copies
2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Sara O. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-3331). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.