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Oral history interview with Jakub Gutenbaum

Oral History | Digitized | Accession Number: 1995.A.1280.4 | RG Number: RG-50.225.0004

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    Oral history interview with Jakub Gutenbaum

    Overview

    Interview Summary
    Jakub Gutenbaum, born in 1929 in Warsaw, Poland, describes his assimilated family; the German invasion in 1939; his father fleeing east (he never saw him again); ghettoization; crowding and starvation; working as an errand boy for the Judenrat; hiding with his mother and brother in an attic overlooking the Umschlagplatz during round-ups; moving when they were seen; hiding in a bunker during the ghetto uprising; being deported to Majdenek after the bunker was discovered; being separated from his mother and brother during selection (he never saw them again); hiding to avoid slave labor moving stones; contemplating suicide; changing his mind when an aunt's tenant gave him extra food; fatal beatings of failed escapees; volunteering for transfer; slave labor in a munitions factory in Skarżysko-Kamienna; a non-Jewish woman prisoner giving him extra food; his Hasidic bunkmate praying and observing Passover; being hospitalized for typhus; a prisoner-dentist hiding him during selection; escaping from a group selected for death; being transferred to Buchenwald, Schlieben, then Theresienstadt; liberation by Soviet troops; observing prisoners killing local Germans; traveling to Liberec, Prague, Warsaw, then Łódź; being assigned to an orphanage in Helenówek; briefly visiting relatives in Belgium; studying in Moscow; his academic career; his reluctance to share his experiences, even with his wife; the importance of Polish culture to his identity; continuing contact with the dentist who saved him and staff from the orphanage; and participating in survivor organizations.
    Interviewee
    Professor Jakub Gutenbaum
    Interviewer
    Anka Grupińska
    Date
    interview:  1994 July
    Credit Line
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, courtesy of the Jeff and Toby Herr Foundation

    Physical Details

    Language
    Polish
    Extent
    8 videocassettes (U-Matic) : sound, color ; 3/4 in..

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
    Conditions on Use
    Restrictions on use. Restrictions may exist. Contact the Museum for further information: reference@ushmm.org

    Keywords & Subjects

    Topical Term
    Altruism. Concentration camp inmates--Medical care. Concentration camp inmates--Religious life. Concentration camp inmates--Selection process. Concentration camp inmates--Suicidal behavior. Concentration camps--Psychological aspects. Forced labor. Hiding places--Poland--Warsaw. Holocaust survivors. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. Jewish children in the Holocaust. Jewish councils--Poland--Warsaw. Jewish ghettos--Poland--Warsaw. Jewish orphans. Jews--Poland--Warsaw. Orphanages--Poland. Passover. Revenge. Revenge. Starvation. Suicidal behavior. Typhus fever. World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities. World War, 1939-1945--Children. World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Liberation. World War, 1939-1945--Jewish resistance. World War, 1939-1945--Jews--Poland. Men--Personal narratives.
    Personal Name
    Gutenbaum, Jakub.

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    Nathan Beyrak conducted the interview with Jakub Gutenbaum in Poland in July 1994, for the Poland Documentation Project. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives received the tapes of the interview in March 1995.
    Funding Note
    The production of this interview was made possible by Jeff and Toby Herr.
    The cataloging of this oral history interview has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
    Record last modified:
    2023-11-16 08:22:02
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn507766

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