Bella B. Holocaust testimony (HVT-306) interviewed by Pam Goodman and Batik Waller,
Videotape testimony of Bella B., who was born in Piotrków, Poland in 1920. Mrs. B. describes her family; the German invasion; isolation and persecution of the Jews; and the formation of the ghetto, which she escaped from with family members by hiding in a bunker. She recalls the birth of her sister's baby in the bunker; returning to the ghetto; separation from her brother whom she never saw again; her brother-in-law's efforts to keep the newly born child hidden; learning about the mass shooting of all the young men in a nearby woods; and deportation to Skarżysko-Kamienna. Mrs. S. recounts conditions in Skarżysko; the many beatings and the loss of dignity; receiving advice from the rabbi of her hometown in Skarżysko; transfer with 3,000 women to Leipzig; kindness shown to her by a German worker; constant hunger; the three week death march; and liberation by Russians. She tells of her return to Poland to seek family; narrowly escaping rape by Polish and Russian men; extreme antisemitism in Poland; learning her sister was alive in Bergen-Belsen; and smuggling herself into Germany. She recalls her reunion with her sister; meeting her husband who was a rabbi and scholar; the birth of two of her children; emigration to the United States; the death of her husband; her remarriage; and her reluctance to discuss her experience with her children.
- Published
- New York, N.Y. : Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, 1984
- Interview Date
- November 5, 1984.
- Locale
- Poland
Piotrków Trybunalski
Piotrków Trybunalski (Poland)
Leipzig (Germany)
Berlin (Germany) - Language
-
English
- Copies
- 3 copies: 3/4 in. master; 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
- Cite As
- Bella B. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-306). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
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View in Yale University Library Catalog: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/967657
Record last modified: 2018-05-30 11:45:00
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt967657