- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Leopold S., who was born in Sládkovičovo, Czechoslovakia (presently Slovakia) in 1927, the older of two sons. He recalls his grandparents living with them; looting of Jewish property during the Hungarian occupation in 1938; his father's death in 1939; he and his brother working as landscapers; deportation with his family to Galanta in May 1944; transfer to Nové Zámky, then Auschwitz/Birkenau two weeks later; separation from his family (he never saw them again); claiming to be older to join an older group (no one from the younger group survived); transfer to Melk; slave labor in an airplane factory; breaking his leg; hospitalization; transfer to Ebensee in December; liberation by United States troops in May; assignment to a displaced persons camp in Linz; returning home via Prague and Bratislava; joining an uncle in Budapest; volunteering for military service in 1949; serving until 1953; marriage; and the births of two sons. Mr. S. discusses the trauma of separation from his family; the importance to his survival of being with a strong friend and not losing hope; painful memories when visiting Birkenau and Mauthausen; and not sharing details of his experiences with his children.
- Author/Creator
- S., Leopold, 1927-
- Published
- Bratislava, Slovakia : Milan Šimečka Foundation, 1995
- Interview Date
- December 9, 1995.
- Locale
- Czechoslovakia
Sládkovičovo (Slovakia)
Galanta (Slovakia)
Nové Zámky (Slovakia)
Prague (Czech Republic)
Bratislava (Slovakia)
Budapest (Hungary)
- Cite As
- Leopold S. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-3699). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
- Other Authors/Editors
- Salner, Peter, interviewer.
Králová, Ingrid, interviewer.
- Notes
-
This testimony is in Slovak.