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Oral history interview with Henry Palmer

Oral History | Digitized | Accession Number: 2000.91.15 | RG Number: RG-50.493.0015

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    Oral history interview with Henry Palmer

    Overview

    Interview Summary
    Henry Palmer (né Belcman), born in 1913 in Ostrog Nae Horyien, Poland (now Ostroh, Ukraine near Horyn River); his father dying during World War I from dysentery in 1919 when Henry was six years old; living with his mother and two younger sisters; the conditions in the town, which were not very good as there were many poor people; attending both Hebrew school and local Polish school; beginning Polish gymnasium (high school) around the age of 11; becoming a tutor; becoming a teacher after graduation; continuing to teach after the Russians invaded in 1939 because he could speak Russian; feeling the Russians treated them and other displaced people well; fleeing in 1941 with his wife, daughter, and son to Russia due to antisemitic threats to his life; moving to Czelabinsk (Chelyabinsk, Russia); being given citizenship immediately; moving with his family in 1941 to Uzbekistan, where he was a teacher because he could speak German; being a bookkeeper but also having a plot of land which he and his family grew rice; staying in Uzbekistan for five years; working hard but being happy; a 1946 agreement that allowed Polish Jews to return to Poland; deciding to be a director of orphans sent back to Poland; the large amount of antisemitism and numerous returning Jews being killed; the Joint sponsoring his family to go to Paris, France; working for the Jewish Agency in Palestine, the Department for Children which helped moved children in Europe to Israel; living in Paris for eight years; his wife having their third child (son) while in Paris; moving to Detroit, Michigan in 1954 to be near his wife’s brother-in-law; changing his last name to Palmer due to difficulty of last name spelling; working as a bookkeeper with the help of the Joint; attending college and becoming an accountant; retiring in 1978 at the age of 65; and moving to California.
    Interviewee
    Henry Palmer
    Interviewer
    Pat Harris
    Date
    interview:  1992 September 11

    Physical Details

    Language
    English
    Extent
    2 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

    Keywords & Subjects

    Personal Name
    Palmer, Henry.

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    Pat Harris on behalf of the Anti-Defamation League, Orange County, California, conducted the interview with Henry Palmer on September 11, 1992. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum received the copy of the interview from the Anti-Defamation League, Orange County, California on May 3, 2000.
    Record last modified:
    2023-11-16 08:56:03
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn511994

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