- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Viliam F., who was born in Ložín, Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (presently Slovakia) in 1917, the oldest of three children. He recounts his father's death in 1922; attending school in Michalovce; working for the Bata Shoe Company in Zlín for over four years starting in 1931; transfer to Batizovce; Hungarian occupation; deportation to Kráľovský Chlmec, then Vyšné Nemecké; his mother's friend assisting them to return to Michalovce; joining the military in Sabinov; an officer retaining him as a clerk when he was ordered east; anti-Jewish restrictions imposed by the Hlinka guard; release from service about a year later; refusing to wear the yellow star; smuggling his sister and a friend's daughter to Budapest via Lastovce; leaving them to visit an aunt in Lučenec; arrest; transfer to Kamenica nad Cirochou, then Michalovce; deportation to Rogoznica, then Międzyrzec; escaping from a train with others; hiding in a farm shed; the farmer feeding them; posing as a prisoner of war to obtain work; hiding in a forest; smuggling themselves into the Międzyrzec ghetto; liberation in May 1944; traveling to Brześć Litewski; military enlistment; attending artillery training in Poprad; advising a HInka guard official to disappear; finding his mother and siblings after the war; marriage; military draft; serving for three years; the births of two children; his sister and mother emigrating to the United States; and his brother leaving. Mr. F. discusses learning of the extermination camps after the war; his mother becoming more religious; recognition of his mother's and siblings' rescuers by Yad Vashem; the importance of luck to his and his family's survival; and not sharing his experiences with his children and grandchildren.
- Author/Creator
- F., Viliam, 1917-
- Published
- Bratislava, Slovakia : Milan Šimečka Foundation, 1996
- Interview Date
- August 29, 1996.
- Locale
- Poland
Międzyrzec Podlaski
Czechoslovakia
Ložín (Slovakia)
Michalovce (Slovakia)
Zlín (Czech Republic)
Batizovce (Slovakia)
Kráľovský Chlmec (Slovakia)
Vyšné Nemecké (Slovakia)
Sabinov (Slovakia)
Kamenica nad Cirochou (Slovakia)
Lastovce (Slovakia)
Budapest (Hungary)
Lučenec (Slovakia)
Brest (Belarus)
Poprad (Slovakia)
- Cite As
- Viliam F. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-4113). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
- Notes
-
This testimony is in Slovak.
