Overview
- Interview Summary
- John Ralph Silva, born June 26, 1921 in Berlin, Germany, describes his childhood; fleeing Berlin on November 10, 1938 after the murder of his father during Kristallnacht; trying to convince his other family members to leave; the fate of his family members during the Holocaust; persuading a boat captain to take him to Genoa, Italy and selling part of his stamp collection; possessing a passport and visa for Bolivia; arriving in Bolivia and being told he and the other Jewish refugees would be sent into the jungle to help colonize it; having his passport taken away; conditions in the jungle and suffering a machete wound; contracting malaria and yellow fever months later; how after two years in the jungle he feigned a toothache and traveled towards La Paz; attempting to flee to Argentina three times; being successfully smuggled into Argentina; going to Montevideo, Uruguay; finding some relatives who offered little help; working for a Frenchman in the wool business; getting married in 1944 to a Jewish refugee from Mannheim, Germany; immigrating to the United States in 1947; building a wool import and export business; becoming the president of the New York Wool Trade Association; and retiring to Atlanta, GA.
- Interviewee
- John R. Silva
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Sharon T. Silva
Physical Details
- Language
- English
- Extent
-
1 DVD : MPEG-4.
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
- Conditions on Use
- Restrictions on use. Restrictions may exist. Contact the Museum for further information: reference@ushmm.org
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Amazon River Region. Forced labor--Bolivia. Holocaust survivors--Marriage. Holocaust survivors--United States. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Germany--Personal narratives. Human smuggling--Bolivia. Jewish businesspeople--United States. Jewish refugees--Bolivia. Jewish refugees--Italy. Jews, German--Bolivia. Jews--Germany--Berlin. Kristallnacht, 1938--Germany--Berlin. Malaria. Yellow fever. Men--Personal narratives.
- Geographic Name
- Argentina. Atlanta (Ga.) Berlin (Germany) Bolivia. Genoa (Italy) Germany--Social conditions--1933-1945. La Paz (Bolivia) Montevideo (Uruguay) United States--Emigration and immigration.
- Personal Name
- Silva, John, 1921-
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- Sharon Silva donated the oral history with her father John Ralph Silva to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on August 5, 2014. The interview was conducted by Georgia Public Television.
- Special Collection
-
The Jeff and Toby Herr Oral History Archive
- Record last modified:
- 2023-11-16 09:32:21
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn85504
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