Overview
- Interview Summary
- Dušan Stefančič, born in 1927 in Gornji Grad in the former Yugoslavia, describes living in Bihac before the war; the torture of Serbs and Jews by the Ustaša; the mass murder of Serbs; moving to Ljubljana in 1941; the occupation of Ljubljana by Italian forces; raids and arrests conducted by the Italians; joining the Partisans; his arrest in 1944 by the Domobrans; his imprisonment in Ljubljana; his transfer to Dachau; his transfer to Saint Marie in France; working in an airplane engine factory for BMW; his transfer to Natzweiler where he was assigned to carry bodies to a crematorium and assist a doctor; his transfer to Gusen I through Mauthausen; working on airplane construction; his transfer to Gusen II in 1945; the sight of dead bodies there; seeing naked prisoners in a line near the railway station at Saint George; the number of Jews in Gusen II and their work in a factory; the escape of German guards the end of the war; and his liberation by American forces.
- Interviewee
- Dušan Stefančič
- Date
-
interview:
2009 January 31
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, courtesy of the Jeff and Toby Herr Foundation
Physical Details
- Language
- Slovenian
- Extent
-
3 videocassettes (DVCAM) : sound, color ; 1/4 in..
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Slovenian. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Yugoslavia. Mass murder. Massacres. Serbs--Crimes against--Slovenia. Star of David badges. State sponsored terrorism. World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities--Slovenia. World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Austria. World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--France. World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Germany. World War, 1939-1945--Destruction and pillage. World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons, Slovenian. Men--Personal narratives.
- Geographic Name
- Bihać (Bosnia and Hercegovina) Gornji Grad (Slovenia) Ljubljana (Slovenia) Slovenia--History--1918-1945. Slovenia--History--Axis occupation, 1941-1945. Slovenia.
- Personal Name
- Stefančič, Dušan.
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- This is a witness interview of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Perpetrators, Collaborators, and Witnesses: The Jeff and Toby Herr Testimony Initiative, a multi-year project to record the testimonies of non-Jewish witnesses to the Holocaust. Nathan Beyrak, Project Director for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Oral History Branch, coordinated the interview with Dušan Stefančič on January 31, 2009 as part of the Museum's Former Yugoslavia Witnesses Documentation Project in Slovenia.
- Funding Note
- The production of this interview was made possible by Jeff and Toby Herr.
- Special Collection
-
The Jeff and Toby Herr Oral History Archive
- Record last modified:
- 2023-11-16 09:17:24
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn44872
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Also in Oral history interviews of the Former Yugoslavia Witnesses Documentation Project, Slovenia
Oral history interviews of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Former Yugoslavia Witnesses Documentation Project in Slovenia.
Date: 2009
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Oral history interview with Stanislav Kotnik
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Oral history interview with Albin Vipotnik
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Oral history interview with Jože Hlebanja
Oral History
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Oral history interview with France Gradišek
Oral History
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Oral history interview with Vinko Gabršek
Oral History
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Oral history interview with Helena Žnidarćić
Oral History
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Oral history interview with Ana Čeplak
Oral History
Ana Čeplak, born in 1924 in Bocna in the former Yugoslavia, describes the beginning of the war and the German occupation of Yugoslavia; her family’s involvement with the Partisans; the arrest and execution of her three brothers in 1942; caring for the children of her half-brother; the arrest of the citizens of Bocna by Germans in 1942; her transfer to Celje where she was separated from her younger sister; her transfer to Birkenau where she was registered and received a prisoner’s uniform and number; working in fields digging trenches for the military; prisoner deaths from fatigue; her time in the camp hospital; a pregnant woman whose baby was put to death shortly after its birth; male prisoners who were part of the Sonderkommando; suicides in the camp; conditions in Birkenau, including the treatment of prisoners by the guards; how Jewish prisoners faced harsher conditions than others; the presence of Romani prisoners in the camp; the procession of Jews to gas chambers and the crematorium; seeing black ash and the remains of bones on her way to labor; working in a barrack where she went through the clothing and personal items from the transport; her release from Birkenau in 1944; her forced labor in Germany where she watched children in Baad; her liberation in 1945; and the effects of the Holocaust on her family and village.
Oral history interview with Anton Šercer
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Oral history interview with Vilma Ofak
Oral History
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Oral history interview with Julijana Mancek
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Oral history interview with Leon Bratina
Oral History
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Oral history interview with Jernej Borovnik-Bartolj
Oral History
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Oral history interview with Tatjana F. Maslo
Oral History
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Oral history interview with Sonja Vrščaj
Oral History
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Oral history interview with Zdravko Petrič
Oral History
Zdravko Petrič, born in 1927 in Skofja, Slovenia, discusses the April 1941 bombing of Ljubljana by the Germans; his brother who joined the partisans; his father who was taken by the Italians to Rab Island in 1941; his father’s return in 1943; the killing of his father by Domobrans; joining the partisans in September 1943; his arrest by German authorities in Iska Vas in November 1943; the German execution of 15 partisans; his transfer to Dachau concentration camp in December 1943; living in barracks with Slovenians, Croats, Italians, Poles, and Russians; the harsh living conditions in the camp; how prisoners took the bodies of dead prisoners to roll call; Jewish prisoners at Dachau; working in a war equipment factory at the camp in Nieckelretz; the brutality of SS guards; the escape and later capture of French Romani prisoners; traveling through Natzweiler and Mauthausen to Gusen 1 where he worked in an airplane factory; the hanging of a Russian prisoner who was accused of sabotaging airplane wings; the physical abuse of prisoners at the factory; his transfer to Gusen 2; liberation by American forces; and the postwar killing of an SS guard by former prisoners.
Oral history interview with Cvetko Kobal
Oral History
Cvetko Kobal, born in 1921 in Skofija Loka, discusses his involvement in the resistance movement; his arrest by the Gestapo in January 1942; his incarceration in Begunje; being tortured by German guards; his transfer to Auschwitz; brutal treatment of prisoners by German, Polish, and Romani kapos; his work clearing the yard of dead bodies; physical abuse while working on the sewage team; the hanging of Polish prisoners in the main square at roll call; Jewish prisoners in the camp; the frequent arrival of prisoner transports at night; the gassing of prisoners upon arrival; his transfer by cattle wagon to Mauthausen; being marched to Gusen concentration camp; working in a quarry; carrying dead bodies from the barracks to roll call; witnessing Jewish kapos kill Jewish prisoners in October 1943; widespread death as a result of starvation; the killing of sick prisoners by camp hospital staff; working on the construction of barracks for Russians prisoners; his transfer to a camp in Linz; and escaping the camp and joining the partisans.
Oral history interview with Albina Vogrin
Oral History
Albina Vogrin, born in 1930 in Novi Kot, Slovenia, discusses the burning of her village and arrest of all the men by Italian forces in July 1942; hiding with her family in the forest; her family’s capture and transport to Italian headquarters in Prizid; her father’s execution; her transfer to Rab concentration camp near; the death of prisoners, many of whom children, from malnutrition and dysentery; the sea flooding the camp; the transfer of women and children to Gonars concentration camp in December 1943; better living conditions and more food at Gonars; her grandmother’s death in the camp; the suicide of a female prisoner; the release of prisoners after Italy’s capitulation in September 1943; her family’s arrest by the Germans and imprisonment in Gorica; their release after her mother persuaded a guard to let them go home; and living in Draga until the end of the war.
Oral history interview with Štefanija Kogoj
Oral History
Stefanija Kogoj, born in 1925 in Papezi, Slovenia, discusses the looting and destruction of her village by Italians forces in July 1942; the removal of all village men following the conflict with partisans; being taken with her family to Rab concentration camp on the Italian occupied island; her father’s report that almost all of the village men were executed; many deaths, predominately among children, on Rab as a result of harsh living conditions and malnutrition; the death of her mother and uncle; rescuing her grandmother when the camp was flooded; being transferred with other women to Gonars concentration camp; dehumanizing behavior from Italian guards; improved living conditions in barracks and access to water; widespread death among elderly prisoners due to disease and starvation; her release after the capitulation of Italy in September 1943; returning to Papezi to discover a burned down village; and living in Croatia postwar.
Oral history interview with Ivana Zamida
Oral History
Ivana Zamida, born in 1929 in Papezi, Slovenia, discusses her time in Rab and Gonars concentration camps; surviving a flood in the camp on the island of Rab; many deaths as a result of starvation and harsh living conditions; witnessing a female prisoner’s suicide; receiving extra food from a male prisoner; receiving parcels from Ljubljana; and returning to Slovenia after the capitulation of Italy in 1943.
Oral history interview with Kristina Kverh
Oral History
Kristina Kverh, born in 1931 in Novi Kot, Slovenia, discusses the destruction of her village by Italian soldiers; the deportation of all villagers in July 1942 to Rab concentration camp; many deaths in Rab as a result of starvation and harsh living conditions; her father’s execution; her transfer to Gonars concentration camp in December 1942; her grandmother’s death at the camp in Rab; better living conditions in Gonars; having appendix surgery at a hospital in Udine, Italy; returning to Slovenia after the capitulation of Italy; and living with her aunt close to Kocevje until the end of the war.
Oral history interview with Marija Poje
Oral History
Marija Poje, born in 1922 in Novi Kot, Slovenia, discusses the arrest of her family by Italian soldiers in Stari Kot in July 1942; Italian soldiers burning down the village; her transfer to camp Kampor on the island of Rab; many deaths in the camp as a result of malnutrition and disease; the flooding of the camp; giving birth on the island of Rab; her transfer to Gonars concentration camp; difficult living conditions in the barracks; the death of her baby; the capitulation of Italy; returning to Stari Kot to find a burned down village; moving to Podpreska; her husband being forced to serve in the German offensive in 1943; and the death of her older child from malnutrition and exhaustion in December 1943.
Oral history interview with Franc Pantar
Oral History
Franc Pantar, born in 1929 in Novi Kot in the former Yugoslavia, describes the arrival of Italian forces in Novi Kot in 1942; the arrest of his family and village, and their deportation to Rab concentration camp; the harsh conditions in the camp, resulting in the deaths of his sister and grandfather; his transfer to Gonars concentration camp; the camp's poor food and hygiene; an incident in which he participated in the removal of corpses from the camp to the cemetery; his return home after the capitulation of Italy; and his family moving to the village of Podpreska.
Oral history interview with Julijana Janeš
Oral History
Julijana Janeš, born in 1933 in the former Yugoslavia, describes her brothers joining a partisan unit in 1942; the arrest of her village in 1942 by Italian forces and their transfer to Rab concentration camp in Kampor; the harsh conditions in the camp, resulting in the deaths of her grandparents; her transfer to Gonars concentration camp; conditions in the camp, resulting in the death of her neice; returning home after the capitulation of Italy; moving to the village of Podpreska; and the sight of Chetnicks withdrawing from Serbia and Croatia at the end of the war.
Oral history interview with Dana V. Klanjšček
Oral History
Dana V. Klanjšček, born in 1922 in the former Yugoslavia, describes her participation in the resistance movement; her arrest by Italian police in 1942 and imprisonment in Venice and then Padova; her return to Slovenia in 1943 after the capitulation of Italy; her arrest and interrogation by the Bela Garda; her transfer to Ravensbrück and then Grünberg labor camp; a forced march in 1945 in which the guards deserted the group of prisoners; Soviet soldiers informing them of the end of the war; her return to Slovenia; and the death of her brother after the war as a result off his treatment in concentration camps.
Oral history interview with Alojz S. Kunej
Oral History
Alojz S. Kunej, born in 1923 in the former Yugoslavia, describes the German occupation of Krsko; the banning of the Slovenian language; Slovenian Germans moving to Krsko; his examination to determine if he could be granted German citizenship; the deportation of his family to the concentration camp in Reichenberg (Liberec, Czech Republic) in 1941; his forced labor in a neighboring factory; and returning home after liberation to find his home looted.
Oral history interview with Janez Štiglic
Oral History
Janez Štiglic, born in 1938 in the former Yugoslavia, describes his deportation to the concentration camp at Celje in 1942; mass shootings in Celje, which resulted in the death of his father; the death of his mother in Auschwitz; his transfer between different concentration camps; being a subject to medical experimentation; his liberation in 1945 by American forces; his return to Slovenia with his neighbor and brother; and the long-term effects of his experiences during the war on his life.
Oral history interview with Miloš Poljanšek
Oral History
Miloš Poljanšek, born in 1923 in the former Yugoslavia, describes his deportation to Somobor and then Ljubljana in 1941; joining the resistance movement; his arrest and interrogation by Italian police in 1943; two Jewish prisoners in his cell in the prison in Ljubljana; his transfer to a prison in Kopar; his transfer to Hamburg Neuengamme concentration camp in 1943 by German fores; conditions in the concentration camp; his release in 1944 and return to Slovenia; and his time in a working brigade until the end of the war.
