Overview
- Interview Summary
- William Fertig, born in 1918 in Holland and raised in Berlin, Germany, discusses his family's flight from Germany to Poland; their time in a crowded ghetto; his experiences during forced labor; his specialty as a plumber and time in a work camp; the murder of his family; his imprisonment in Auschwitz; living day to day and hanging onto hope; suicide among prisoners; working in an ammunitions factory; his survival as a result of his specialized work skills; the Russian invasion of Poland; a forced march in freezing conditions; his relocation to Buchenwald for a brief period; many deaths during the march; escaping from a box car with three other prisoners; finding food and shelter with Czech farmers; help from a Czech policeman; his recovery in a Catholic hospital in Czechoslovakia at the end of the war; his time in a displaced persons camp run by the Americans; meeting his future wife in the displaced persons camp; being sponsored by an American serviceman for his immigration to the United States; and his ongoing nightmares from his wartime experiences.
- Interviewee
- William Fertig
- Interviewer
- Ms. Judie Panneton
- Date
-
undated:
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Judie Fertig Panneton
Physical Details
- Language
- English
- Extent
-
1 sound recording : M4A.
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--Suicidal behavior. Death march survivors. Death marches. Escapes. Forced labor. Holocaust survivors. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. Jewish ghettos--Poland. Jews--Germany. Jews--Migrations. Jews--Poland. Nightmares. Plumbers. Refugee camps--Germany. World War, 1939-1945--Deportations from Poland. World War, 1939-1945--Refugees. Men--Personal narratives.
- Geographic Name
- Berlin (Germany) Czech Republic. Germany--Emigration and immigration. Netherlands. Poland--Emigration and immigration. Poland--History--Occupation, 1939-1945. Poland. United States--Emigration and immigration.
- Personal Name
- Fertig, William.
- Corporate Name
- Auschwitz (Concentration camp) Buchenwald (Concentration camp)
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- Judie Fertig Panneton donated her father William Fertig's oral testimony to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in July 2018.
- Special Collection
-
The Jeff and Toby Herr Oral History Archive
- Record last modified:
- 2023-11-16 08:26:09
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn617798
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