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Harry W. Holocaust testimony (HVT-509) interviewed by Kathy Strochlic and Eva Knoller,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-509

Videotape testimony of Harry W., who was born in Bežovce, Czechoslovakia in 1916. He tells of moving to Uz︠h︡horod in 1920; attending public and Hebrew school; the beauty and peace of their Shabbat observance; being stabbed by another boy in an anti-Semitic incident; studying at the Yeshivas in Mukachevo and Bratislava; and leaving in 1938 because of the Hungarian occupation of his hometown. He describes being drafted into a Hungarian labor battalion; working in many places in Hungary, Yugoslavia and the Ukraine; harsh conditions and lack of food; working in Budapest where he could leave the camp; being offered shelter in one of Raoul Wallenberg's Swedish safe houses and refusing to leave his fellow workers; transfer to Austria; the death march to Mauthausen; transfer to Gunskirchen; liberation by Americans in May 1945; and his recovery from typhus. Mr. W. relates his return to Uz︠h︡horod; various business ventures in Hungary and Czechoslovakia; the reunion with his three younger sisters (six others had perished); difficulties living under the Soviets; emigration to Israel, to Canada, then to the United States. He recalls his mother's charitable personality and an encounter with a boyhood friend who lost his faith in Judaism because of Holocaust experiences. Mr. W. concludes that such evil had nothing to do with God but was due to humans.

Author/Creator
W., Harry, 1916-
Published
New York, N.Y. : Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale, 1984
Interview Date
November 5, 1984.
Locale
Hungary
Ukraine
Yugoslavia
Czechoslovakia
Bežovce (Czechoslovakia)
Israel
Mukacheve (Ukraine)
Uz︠h︡horod (Ukraine)
Bratislava (Slovakia)
Romania
Budapest (Hungary)
Language
English
Copies
3 copies: 3/4 in. master; 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Harry W. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-509). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
 
View in Yale University Library Catalog: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/946949
Record last modified: 2018-05-30 11:45:00
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt946949