- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Leon S., who was born in Kraków, Poland. Mr. S. describes his childhood and vague identification with Judaism; the German occupation and its immediate effect on the lives of Jews; his family's move to Skawa, an outlying village, to avoid living in the Kraków ghetto; atrocities during the liquidation of the village, including the murder of his grandmother, which he witnessed; separation from his parents and his selection for slave labor. He relates experiences in the concentration and slave labor camps of Płaszów; Skarżysko-Kamienna, where he narrowly escaped working with deadly chemicals; Buchenwald, where he formed a sustaining relationship with Pinchas R.; and Terezín, where he was liberated. He tells of becoming religious in the camps and of still using the religious objects he removed from huge piles at Terezín after his liberation. Other topics of discussion include the postwar suicide of his friend Pinchas R.; Mr. S.'s marriage, children, and career; and his gratitude at having been able to retain his faith and humanity despite his wartime experiences.
- Author/Creator
- S., Leon.
- Published
- New Haven, Conn. : Holocaust Survivors Film Project, 1980
- Interview Date
- April 25, 1980.
- Locale
- Poland
Kraków (Poland)
Skawa (Poland)
- Cite As
- Leon S. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-45). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
- Other Authors/Editors
- Laub, Dori, interviewer.
Klein, Hillel, interviewer.
- Notes
-
Unpublished finding aid available in repository; 1/2 in. VHS is linked to finding aid by time coding.
