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Pinhas Z. Holocaust testimony (HVT-3474) interviewed by Levana Frank,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-3474

Videotape testimony of Pinhas Z., who was born in Ciechanów, Poland in 1924, one of nine siblings. He recounts attending Jewish schools for seven grades; training as an electrician with his older brother; antisemitic harassment; participating in Betar; two brothers emigrating to Palestine and another to Uruguay; German invasion; his family briefly joining an aunt in Warsaw; one brother working as a driver for a German officer; the officer providing their family with housing; farm work for a German who gave him special privileges; an unsuccessful attempt to flee with his brother to the Soviet zone; his boss obtaining Mr. K.'s brother's release from execution; deportation with his family to Birkenau; remaining with two brothers when separated from his parents and younger siblings (he never saw them again); slave labor as an electrician; a Polish civilian worker giving him extra food; sharing it with his brothers; transfer to Auschwitz; obtaining privileged work for himself, his brothers, his uncle, and cousin; using his connections to save a friend from a transport; a death march and train transfer with his brothers, uncle, and cousin to Gross-Rosen, then Dachau; separation from his uncle, cousin, and one brother; hospitalization with his brother; escaping with his brother from a transport; liberation by United States troops; moving to Mühldorf displaced persons camp; finding his brother, uncle, and cousin there; learning their two Israeli brothers were in the Jewish Brigade in Italy; arrival of one of them; traveling with him to Rome, Siena, and Naples; reunion with their other brother; using their brothers' documents to travel to Port Said, then Palestine, in September 1945; serving in the 1948 Arab-Israel war; marriage; the births of his children; and sharing his experiences with them. Mr. Z. notes the importance to his survival of luck and being with his brothers.

Author/Creator
Z., Pinhas, 1924-
Published
Tel Aviv, Israel : Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, 1992
Interview Date
September 15, 1992.
Locale
Poland
Ciechanów (Poland)
Warsaw (Poland)
Siena (Italy)
Naples (Italy)
Rome (Italy)
Port Said (Egypt)
Palestine
Language
Hebrew
Copies
2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Pinhas Z. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-3474). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.