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Philip K. Holocaust testimony (HVT-1300) interviewed by Dana L. Kline and Lucille B. Ritvo,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-1300

Videotape testimony of Philip K., who was born in Kisvárda, Hungary, in 1924. In this vivid and reflective testimony, Mr. K. describes prewar orthodox Jewish life; participation in a Zionist organization; lifelong conflict, starting in childhood, with his father over Jewish beliefs and practices; and official and extralegal antisemitism. He tells of volunteering as an interpreter in Auschwitz; trying to save inmates by mistranslating their statements; transport to an underground aircraft factory being built by the Organisation Todt at Hussigny, France; sabotage; transport to Hochdorf, then Heilbronn, where he was befriended and given food by a German contractor; transport to Dachau and then Allach, where prisoners protected a hunchbacked comrade; and being wounded during liberation on a train near Tutzing. He recounts participating in establishing Feldafing displaced persons camp; swimming across the Rhine in September 1945 to obtain a Hungarian passport in Switzerland; illegally traveling to Antwerp; and reunion with his father and sisters in the United States. He reflects at length on the psychology of persecutors and victims and on his conviction that the Holocaust represents an unremovable "skin" for survivors.

Author/Creator
K., Philip, 1924-
Published
New Haven, Conn. : Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, 1989
Interview Date
November 15, 1989.
Locale
Kisvárda (Hungary)
Hungary
Tutzing (Germany)
Antwerp (Belgium)
Hussigny-Godbrange (France)
Language
English
Copies
3 copies: 3/4 in. master; 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Philip K. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1300). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
 
View in Yale University Library Catalog: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/982260
Record last modified: 2018-05-29 11:47:00
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt982260