Advanced Search

Learn About The Holocaust

Special Collections

My Saved Research

Login

Register

Help

Skip to main content

Oral history interview with Fela Goldbaum

Oral History | Digitized | Accession Number: 1996.A.0586.63 | RG Number: RG-50.407.0063

Search this record's additional resources, such as finding aids, documents, or transcripts.

No results match this search term.
Check spelling and try again.

results are loading

0 results found for “keyward

    Oral history interview with Fela Goldbaum

    Overview

    Interview Summary
    Fela Goldbaum, born on April 3, 1915 in Pabianice, Poland, discusses her parents; growing up in a close, religious, but not overly strict, family; living mainly among Jews; speaking Yiddish in the home and Polish outside; becoming a seamstress; the antisemitism among the local population; attempting unsuccessfully to immigrate to Palestine; being aware of Hitler’s anti-Jewish policies; her first contacts with the Germans following the invasion of Poland; attempting, unsuccessfully, to prevent the arrest of her brother; establishment of a ghetto in Pabianice and being forced to wear the yellow star; Jews establishing a Judenrat to deal with the Germans; the arrests of Jewish men; working as a seamstress while other women were forced to be “concubines”; having a special permit to leave the ghetto to work and being given special rations; being forced to sew Nazi flags; the closing of the ghetto in 1942; being rounded up by the Gestapo and marched to a field, where everyone was forced to spend the night; the separation of the young from the old; being sent to the Litzmannstadt Ghetto in Łódź; others being sent to Chelmno; continuing to work in a workshop in Litzmannstadt; marrying in order to get more time off under Judenrat policies; hiding from the Germans in 1944; being sent to Auschwitz in cattle cars with no food or water; seeing smoke coming from the chimneys; going through the selection; standing naked and having her hair cut; standing in the open for three days; being separated from her two sisters, Hana and Pearl (they survived); being sent to Mittelsteine to work; the daily routine in the camp; being taken on a forced march as the Russians approached; being freed by the Russians and returning to the camp barracks (for shelter); developing dysentery; going from village to village scrounging for food; marrying an acquaintance from Pabianice; returning to Pabianice; deciding to flee Poland and return to Germany; staying in the Landsberg displaced persons camp; giving birth to a son; immigrating in 1948 to Israel; becoming ill and returning to Germany for treatment; and moving to Australia.
    Interviewee
    Fela Goldbaum
    Interviewer
    Phillip Maisel
    Date
    interview:  1996 July 10

    Physical Details

    Language
    English
    Extent
    1 videocassette (VHS) : sound, color ; 1/2 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

    Personal Name
    Goldbaum, Fela, 1915-

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    Jewish Holocaust Museum and Research Centre conducted the interview on July 10, 1996, in Melbourne, Australia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum acquired the tape of the interview in July 1996.
    Record last modified:
    2023-11-16 08:29:24
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn505846

    Additional Resources

    Download & Licensing

    In-Person Research

    Contact Us