- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Halina Z., who was born in Łódź, Poland in 1928. She describes growing up in an affluent home with two sisters; her father's dedication to the family; attending a private high school; the arrival of the Germans; and the ensuing deterioration which led her parents to decide to move the family to her mother's hometown of Chrzanów, where conditions were better. Mrs. Z. recalls their two years in Chrzanów; her father's escape to the Soviet Union where he was imprisoned for a year; his return as a changed person; obtaining false papers; and arranging for a customer to hide two of the three sisters. She relates traveling to Warsaw; working as a maid for a wealthy Polish couple; witnessing events in the Warsaw ghetto, the pain it caused her and the indifference of her employers; never revealing she was Jewish; sexual advances by her employer; the general Warsaw uprising and her escape; working in a German military kitchen; liberation by Russians; several incidents in which she was nearly raped; and finding her sister in Łódź. Mrs. Z. discusses postwar anti-Semitic incidents in which survivors were killed; the positive influence of her father on her life; her four children and their wish to contribute to the betterment of the world; her strong Jewish identity; the many miracles which enabled her to survive; and the importance of remembering the Holocaust.
- Author/Creator
- Z., Halina, 1928-
- Published
- New York, N.Y. : Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale, 1984
- Interview Date
- June 23, 1984.
- Locale
- Poland
Warsaw
Łódź (Poland)
Chrzanów (Poland)
Warsaw (Poland)
- Cite As
- Halina Z. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-283). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
- Other Authors/Editors
- Laub, Dori, interviewer.
Demby, Gloria, interviewer.
