Skip to main content

Paulina B. Holocaust testimony (HVT-4203)

Oral History | Digitized | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-4203

Overview

Summary: Videotape testimony of Paulina B., a Catholic Romani, who was born in Banská Bystrica, Czechoslovakia (presently Slovakia) in 1919, one of twelve children. She recalls her family's poverty; living on a farm; caring for the animals; her father's death; not attending school; working as a mason from age fourteen; marriage at seventeen; the births of two children; her husband's death three years later; persecution by Germans and Hlinka guard; Romanies helping each other; her children's deaths due to lack of medical care; hiding with her mother and sisters in the basement of a neighbor's home, then in an underground shelter in the forest; a nearby villager providing food for them; one brother's death in the partisans; liberation by Soviet troops; traveling to another village; returning home; finding their houses destroyed; adopting a girl from an orphanage; and present-day discrimination against Romanies.
Author/Creator: B., Paulina, 1919-
Published: Bratislava, Slovakia : Milan Šimečka Foundation, 1999
Interview Date: July 18, 1999.
Locale: Slovakia
Czechoslovakia
Banská Bystrica (Slovakia)
Cite As: Paulina B. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-4203). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
Notes: This testimony is in Slovak.

Physical Details

Language: Slovak
Copies: 3 copies: 1/2 in. VHS master; Betacam SP submaster; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Physical Description: 1 videorecording (38 min.) : col

Keywords & Subjects

Subjects (Local Yale): Hiding.
Forests.
Partisans.
Mutual aid.
Aid by non-Romanies.
Postwar experiences.
Subjects: Video tapes. Women. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Slovak. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Romani. Romanies--Nazi persecution--Slovakia. Romanies--Slovakia--History--20th century. Children--Death. World War, 1939-1945--Underground movements--Slovakia. Sisters. Mothers and daughters. Czechoslovakia. Banská Bystrica (Slovakia) Oral histories (document genres) B., Paulina,--1919- Hlinkova slovenská l̕udová strana.

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/5205245
Record last modified:: 2018-06-04 13:26:00
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt5205245

Additional Resources

Librarian View

Download & Licensing

Terms of Use
This record is digitized but cannot be downloaded online.

In-Person Research

Request Access from Yale University Libraries

Requires Yale University Libraries Permission
Accessing Fortunoff interviews
Log in to Request and View
About the Fortunoff Archive

Once requests are approved, you must be at a Fortunoff Access Site to view the testimony.

Contact Us

Give Feedback

Learn About the Holocaust

These additional online resources from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum will help you learn more about the Holocaust and research your family history.

Holocaust Encyclopedia

The Holocaust Encyclopedia provides an overview of the Holocaust using text, photographs, maps, artifacts, and personal histories.
Holocaust Survivors and Victims Resource Center

Research family history relating to the Holocaust and explore the Museum's collections about individual survivors and victims of the Holocaust and Nazi persecution.
Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos

Learn about over 1,000 camps and ghettos in Volumes I-III of this encyclopedia, which are available as a free PDF download. This reference provides text, photographs, charts, maps, and extensive indexes.

Further Your Research