- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Heda K., who was born in Prague. In this vivid and insightful testimony, Mrs. K., a writer, tells of the absence of antisemitism among the Czechs; the consequent inability of many Jews, including her father, to understand the mortal danger they faced; and her deportation, by train, to the Łódź ghetto. She describes various aspects of life in the ghetto, including the selections, random violence, hunger, and spiritual resistance; the children in the ghetto; and Ḥayim Rumkowski. Her deportation, with her parents, to Auschwitz; her parting gift to them of poison; and her own suicide attempt are recalled. She speaks of the degrading appells and selections at Auschwitz; the loss of her ability to communicate; evacuation to Gross Rosen as the Russians approached; her escape from the death march towards Bergen-Belsen; and her return to Prague in February, 1945. Postwar topics include her marriage; the execution of her husband in Czechoslovakia following the Slánský trials; and the constant presence of her memories "like music in the background."
- Author/Creator
- K., Heda, 1919-2010.
- Published
- Boston, Mass. : Holocaust Survivors Film Project, 1980
- Interview Date
- July 22, 1980.
- Locale
- Poland
Łódź
Czechoslovakia
Prague (Czech Republic)
Łódź (Poland)
- Cite As
- Heda K. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-99). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale, Yale University Library.
- Other Authors/Editors
- Vlock, Laurel, interviewer.
- Notes
-
Related publication: Under a cruel star : a life in Prague 1941-1968 / Heda Margolius Kovály ; translated from the Czech by Franci Epstein and Helen Epstein with the author. Cambridge, Mass. : Plunkett Lake Press, c1986.
