Oral history interview with Rubin Minsky

Oral History | Accession Number: 2000.91.16 | RG Number: RG-50.493.0016

Rubin Minsky, born on February 18, 1919 in Warsaw, Poland, discusses his sisters Tova, Leah, Hanna, and Luba; being the second oldest; his father who made caps, pens, and other products that his mother helped to sell; his family being able to stay together until 1942; the establishment of the large ghetto in 1941 and a smaller ghetto in 1942; the conditions which were very bad and many people were starving; his youngest sister being arrested at the beginning of 1942 and being sent on a transport to Treblinka (she did not survive); Germans arriving in the ghettos with tanks; staying in basement bunkers; being sent to Majdanek for about a month; being sent to Auschwitz and his work building a factory which produced synthetic rubber and synthetic gasoline for three years; being sent to Buchenwald around 1945; arriving in a train which had about 10 wagons that were mostly filled with people who did not survive the journey; being liberated; going to Halberstadt, Germany, where he met and married his wife; sneaking into Belgium after being denied a visa; living in Belgium for four years; the birth of his first son in 1946; moving in 1953 with his family to the United States; his three children; and his tattoo from Auschwitz.

Some video files begin with 10-60 seconds of color bars.

Interviewee: Rubin Minsky
Interviewer: David A. Slavkin
Date: interview: 1992 September 13
Language: English
Extent: 1 videocassette (U-Matic) : sound, color ; 3/4 in..

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Special Collection: The Jeff and Toby Herr Oral History Archive
Topical Term: Forced labor.
Holocaust survivors--United States.
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives.
Jewish ghettos--Poland--Warsaw.
Jews--Poland--Warsaw.
Men--Personal narratives.
Starvation.
World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps.
Geographic Name: Alabama.
Belgium.
Halberstadt (Germany)
Oświęcim (Poland)
Poland--History--Occupation, 1939-1945.
United States--Emigration and immigration.
Warsaw (Poland)
Personal Name: Minsky, Rubin.
Corporate Name: Auschwitz (Concentration camp)
Buchenwald (Concentration camp)
Majdanek (Concentration camp)
Holder of Originals: Orange County California Anti-Defamation League
Legal Status: Permanent Collection
Provenance: David A. Slavkin on behalf of the Anti-Defamation League, Orange County, California, conducted the interview with Rubin Minsky on September 13, 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.
Conditions on Access: There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
Conditions on Use: Restrictions on use
: Record last modified: 2023-11-16 08:56:04
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn511995

Also in The Holocaust Oral History Project of the Anti-Defamation League, Orange County, California collection

Consists of 152 interviews of Holocaust survivors in the Orange County, California area

Date: 1992-1995

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