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Michael R. Holocaust testimony (HVT-26) interviewed by Laurel Vlock and Dori Laub,

Oral History | Digitized | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-26

Overview

Summary: Videotape testimony of Michael R., who was born in Dąbrowa Górnicza, Poland, circa 1928. He speaks of life in the community before the war; the effects of the German occupation; the dispersal and deaths of members of his family, while he and his brother tried to hide together; and his eventual arrest and torture in Katowice. He relates his deportation to Birkenau and vividly recalls conditions there, where he saw subjects of medical experiments, was hospitalized after contracting typhus, and, after his recovery, worked in the "Canada" Kommando. He remembers the camp orchestra as well as the "theme songs" of Birkenau and of Buchenwald, where he was later interned and where he was liberated. Mr. R. also reflects on the silence he has kept with regard to his wartime experiences (which he here relates with an unusual degree of irony and gallows humor) and on his present cynicism and basic mistrust of others.
Author/Creator: R., Michael, 1928-
Published: Bridgeport, Conn. : Holocaust Survivors Film Project, 1979
Interview Date: August 7, 1979.
Locale: Poland
Dąbrowa Górnicza (Poland)
Katowice (Poland)
Cite As: Michael R. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-26). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
Other Authors/Editors: Vlock, Laurel, interviewer.
Laub, Dori, interviewer.

Physical Details

Language: English
Copies: 3 copies: 3/4 in. master; 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Physical Description: 1 videorecording (1 hr., 9 min.) : col

Keywords & Subjects

Subjects: Concentration camps--Humor--Psychological aspects. Holocaust survivors. Video tapes. Men. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Jewish. Concentration camps--Songs and music. Poland. Dąbrowa Górnicza (Poland) Katowice (Poland) Oral histories (document genres) R., Michael,--1928- Auschwitz (Concentration camp) Birkenau (Concentration camp) Buchenwald (Concentration camp)

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/616901
Record last modified:: 2018-06-04 13:29:00
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt616901

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