Oral history interview with Murray Weisman

Oral History | Digitized | Accession Number: 1992.A.0123.1.9 | RG Number: RG-50.035.01.0009

Overview

Interview Summary: Murray Weisman, born in Poland in 1930, discusses living in Łódź, Poland; the German occupation of Poland; ghettoization; forced labor; his memories of being deported; arriving in the camp, being stripped, searched for gold, given a number on his arm, put into a shower, and given clothes; lying about his age during the selection process; his job building roads; witnessing a mass murder of inmates; the suicide of some inmates; being taken to Auschwitz; the burning of the dead and weak during the journey; his work; the selections on Fridays; the torture from 1941 to 1942 in Auschwitz; the Kapos; being sent to Buna (Monowitz) concentration camp, where life was somewhat easier; starvation; having to sing while they marched; being in Buna for a year and a half; a bombing at the camp and trying to hide in a bunker; evacuating the camp and being forced to march to Gleiwitz (Gliwice), Poland; being taken on a train to Dora; the Americans bombing the train rails; being stabbed by a Nazi at one point; being sent to Buchenwald; seeing prisoners being taken out of the camps and shot or drowned; hiding in a pile of corpses for two days before being liberated by American soldiers; going to Paris, France; going to the United States for his studies; and his life in the US. Mr. Weisman also shows pictures and sings a song from the camps.
Interviewee: Murray Weisman
Interviewer: Renate Frydman
Date: interview: 1986

Physical Details

Language: English
Genre/Form: Music.
Extent: 3 videocassettes (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

Topical Term: Burning (Execution) Child concentration camp inmates--Personal narratives. Concentration camp inmates--Selection process. Concentration camps--Psychological aspects. Death march survivors. Death marches. Drowning (Execution) Forced labor. Holocaust survivors--United States--Interviews. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Poland--Personal narratives. Jewish children in the Holocaust--Personal narratives. Jewish ghettos--Poland--Łódź. Jews--Poland--Łódź. Mass murder. Road construction industry. Roll calls. Shooting (Execution) Suicide victims. World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Liberation. World War, 1939-1945--Conscript labor--Poland. World War, 1939-1945--Deportations from Poland. World War, 1939-1945--Songs and music. Men--Personal narratives.
Geographic Name: Gliwice (Poland) Łódź (Poland) Paris (France) Poland--History--Occupation, 1939-1945. United States--Emigration and immigration.
Personal Name: Weisman, Murray, 1930-
Corporate Name: Auschwitz (Concentration camp) Buchenwald (Concentration camp) Dora (Concentration camp) Gleiwitz I (Concentration camp) Monowitz (Concentration camp)

Administrative Notes

Legal Status: Permanent Collection
Provenance: Renate Frydman conducted the interview with Murray Weisman in 1986, in cooperation with Wright State University Television Center with support from the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Oral History branch received the tapes of the interview in 1992. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives received the tapes via transfer from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Oral History branch in February 1995.
Special Collection: The Jeff and Toby Herr Oral History Archive

Record last modified:: 2023-11-16 08:08:04
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn507339

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