Sidney L. Holocaust testimony (HVT-882) interviewed by Phyllis O. Ziman Tobin and Jane Eger

Videotape testimony of Sidney L., who was born in Kozienice, Poland in 1927. Mr. L. describes his childhood in detail; life in his town which was home to a famous Maggid; and reactions to the German invasion of Poland. He recalls the bombing of his home; the resulting deaths of his mother and five of his eight siblings; and the formation of and life in the ghetto. He recounts seeing his father murdered by a German; rumors of transports to Treblinka; and joining a slave labor project with his brother to avoid transport. He tells of work conditions in Wolanów; a selection; the arrest of his brother; his own transfer to a munitions factory in Radom; and conditions in Radom where he worked until fall 1944. He describes a death march to Tomaszów Mazowiecki; train transport to Auschwitz; transfer to a camp in Venningen, Germany, where he worked for three months; and transfer to Bissingen. He recalls a three week stay in a hospital late in 1944; transport to Bergen-Belsen; reunion there with his brother; their transfer to Hamburg; his brother's disappearance; transfer by train to Sandbostel, a prisoner of war camp; and liberation by the British in late April. Mr. L. graphically describes camp conditions; hunger; and his passive role in his own survival.