Overview
- Interview Summary
- Born in 1928, in Gheorgheni, Romania, David Kahan was part of a large extended family, consisting of his mother, father, several siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins. In April 1944, the Germans invaded Hungary and immediately began the full-scale persecution of Hungarian Jewry. The Kahan family was detained by Hungarian Gendarmerie and placed in a school room for several days. After their initial detainment, the family was shipped to an ad hoc ghetto in Szaszregen (Reghin, Romania). The family remained incarcerated in a brick factory in Szaszregen for approximately four weeks. They were then shipped to Auschwitz. Upon arrival in Auschwitz, David was separated from his family, who were gassed, and David was shaved, deloused, and held for future use on work details. Of the camp itself, David remembers very few details. After approximately four weeks, David was shipped to the Mühldorf labor camp in Southern Germany. While there, David worked for Organization Todt, clearing trees for the construction of an underground airplane factory. David contacted typhus after he was liberated and was hospitalized in the displaced persons camp at Feldafing. Following his recovery, David showed no desire to return to Romania and made his way to the United States, arriving in New York in May 1949. From New York, David moved to Minneapolis and eventually made his way to Detroit around 1950. He married in 1953 and had three sons.
- Interviewee
- David Kahan
- Date
-
interview:
1995 August 14
Physical Details
- Language
- English
- Extent
-
2 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
- Concentration camp inmates--Selection process. Gas chambers. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Romania--Personal narratives. Holocaust survivors--United States. Jewish ghettos--Romania--Reghin. Jews--Romania--Gheorgheni (Harghita) Refugee camps--Germany. Typhus fever. World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Liberation. Men--Personal narratives.
- Geographic Name
- Gheorgheni (Harghita, Romania) Reghin (Romania) United States--Emigration and immigration.
- Personal Name
- Kahan, David, 1928-
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
University of Michigan-Dearborn
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivors Oral History Archive at the University of Michigan conducted the interview with David Kahan on August 14, 1995. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Archives Branch received the tapes in December 2002.
- Special Collection
-
The Jeff and Toby Herr Oral History Archive
- Record last modified:
- 2023-11-16 08:18:14
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn512298
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