Advanced Search

Learn About The Holocaust

Special Collections

My Saved Research

Login

Register

Help

Skip to main content

Oral history interview with Barbara J. Syska

Oral History | Digitized | Accession Number: 2014.297.1 | RG Number: RG-50.030.0770

Search this record's additional resources, such as finding aids, documents, or transcripts.

No results match this search term.
Check spelling and try again.

results are loading

0 results found for “keyward

    Oral history interview with Barbara J. Syska

    Overview

    Interview Summary
    Barbara J. Syska, born on May 24, 1927, discusses growing up in the city of Białystok, Poland; her parents’ professions and family stories; her school and two Jewish classmates; her parents’ thoughts on religion and politics; her relationship with her parents and older brother; the start of the war and the atmosphere of fear; the arrival of the German and then Soviet armies; Soviet occupation of the city; her father’s experience in the Polish Army and his later imprisonment; her brother’s experiences with the resistance, service in the Polish Air Force, and death in July 1945; her and her parents’ move to a village near Warsaw and their life there; the German occupation; working for the Red Cross Archives and later the Home Army; the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising; the Warsaw Uprising; learning about the transports from Warsaw and the Katyn massacre; her time spent in the prisoner of war camp near Oberlangen, Germany; the camp’s liberation by Polish forces in April 1945; moving with her parents first to Italy to join Anders’ Army and then to England; eventually moving to the United States with her husband and children; earning her bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland; not telling her children and grandchildren much about her wartime experiences; and what she feels are the most important lessons for young people to understand.
    Interviewee
    Barbara J. Syska
    Interviewer
    Ina Navazelskis
    Date
    interview:  2014 October 22
    Geography
    creation: Washington (D.C.)

    Physical Details

    Language
    English
    Extent
    5 digital files : MPEG-4.

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
    Conditions on Use
    No restrictions on use

    Keywords & Subjects

    Personal Name
    Syska, Barbara J., 1927-

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    Ina Navazelskis, on behalf of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Oral History Branch, conducted the oral history interview with Barbara J. Syska in Washington, DC on October 22, 2014.
    Funding Note
    The cataloging of this oral history interview has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
    Record last modified:
    2023-11-16 08:04:44
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn87783

    Additional Resources

    Download & Licensing

    In-Person Research

    Contact Us