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Oral history interview with Karoline Fischl

Oral History | Digitized | Accession Number: 1995.A.1285.11 | RG Number: RG-50.149.0011

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    Oral history interview with Karoline Fischl

    Overview

    Interview Summary
    Karoline Luise 'Lily' Fischl described growing up in Vienna, Austria, from 1898 to 1922; her family and education; living in Prague, Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic) from 1922 to 1942; getting married; the divisions within the Czech population; experiencing antisemitism; the Czech census on nationality in 1933; the evacuation of her children on a Kindertransport to Great Britain in 1939; the fate of her husband; the effect of Munich Crisis, 1938; attempting to flee from Czechoslovakia in March 1939; the commandeering of her family home by Germans in 1939; receiving help from a German SS man; the introduction of anti-Jewish restrictions; the attitude of Czechs to the German occupation; restrictions on Jewish civilians; her employment making paper flowers and degree of knowledge of the war’s progress; being sent to Theresienstadt Concentration Camp in 1942 and remaining there until 1944; the train journey to Theresienstadt; her initial work in a sawmill then in the arts and crafts department of the camp; camp currency; a visit to the camp by the Red Cross; art work; the death of her husband; details about the camp; the insufficiency of rations; her attitude towards incarceration; the illness of her nephew; procuring blackout candles; cultural life in the camp; punishment for smoking; the disappearance of inmates; being selected for transport to Auschwitz Concentration Camp in October 1944; the selection procedure on arrival; lying about her age; the daily routine; being sent to Oederan Concentration Camp in 1944; conditions and the kindness of guards during the train journey; the accommodations; contracting pneumonia; her work aiding a doctor in the sick bay; making Christmas decorations; the speculation of sexuality of a female warden; receiving news of the progress of war; food rations and deterioration of diet; allied air raids; sabotage of work; aid received from a male overseer; the train journey to Theresienstadt, in the spring of 1945 and the bombing of the railway lines by Allies; the initial problem gaining entry into the camp; the quarantine period; her reunion with her mother; liberation by Russians and the spread of typhoid in camp; her responsibility for eighty women; the disposal of the dead; gradual dispersal of inmates; effects of typhoid epidemic; returning to Prague; the long term effects of imprisonment; relations between inmates; the disappearance of her nephew; arrangements for transportation out of Thereienstadt; medical problems; inmate rumors; loss of Star of David from clothes; behavior of German guards; camp language; liberation of camp; treatment of Germans after liberation; impact of imprisonment on her attitudes; and the visit by the Red Cross to camp during first period of imprisonment.
    Interviewee
    Karoline Fischl
    Date
    interview:  1985 December 12

    Physical Details

    Language
    English
    Extent
    3 sound cassettes (90 min.).

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
    Conditions on Use
    Restrictions on use. Permission to copy and/or use recordings in any production must be granted by the Imperial War Museums.

    Keywords & Subjects

    Topical Term
    Antisemitism--Czech Republic. Concentration camp guards. Concentration camp inmates as artists. Concentration camp inmates--Intellectual life. Concentration camp inmates--Medical care. Concentration camps--Psychological aspects. Forced labor. Holocaust survivors. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. Jewish families--Czech Republic--Prague. Jewish women in the Holocaust. Jews, Austrian--Czech Republic. Jews--Czech Republic--Prague. Jews--Legal status, laws, etc.--Czechoslovakia. Jews--Persecutions--Czechoslovakia. Kindertransports (Rescue operations) Pneumonia. Rationing. Sabotage. Typhoid fever. Women concentration camp guards. Women concentration camp inmates. World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Liberation. World War, 1939-1945--Deportations from Czechoslovakia. World War, 1939-1945--Jews--Czechoslovakia. World War, 1939-1945--Medical care. Women--Personal narratives.
    Personal Name
    Fischl, Karoline.

    Administrative Notes

    Holder of Originals
    Imperial War Museum
    Provenance
    The interview was conducted by the Imperial War Museum as part of their retrospective oral history interview program. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum acquired a copy of the interview with Karoline Fischl from the Imperial War Museum in February 1995.
    Record last modified:
    2023-11-16 08:17:19
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn510819

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