Description
Object description
Czechoslovakian Jewish civilian in Rachov, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, 1928-1944; inmate in Mateszalka Ghetto, Hungary, 4/1944-5/1944, inmate in Auschwitz II-Birkenau Concentration Camp and Fürstengrube Subcamp, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, Concentration Camp, Poland, 5/1944-1/1945; inmate in Mittelbau-Dora and Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camps, Germany, 2/1944-4/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Rachov, Czechoslovakia, 1928-1939: character of Rachov; family; ethnic composition of town; languages spoken; relations between different ethnic groups in town; reaction of population to death of former President Tomas Masaryk, 9/1937. Recollections of period as civilian in Rachov, Hungary, 1939-1944: Hungarian occupation and annexation of region, 3/1939; reaction of Jewish community to Ukrainian anti-Semitism; deportation of Jewish civilians without Hungarian passports from 6/1941; first rumours of atrocities, 8/1941; assistance given to Jewish refugees; further details of deportation of Jewish civilians without Hungarian passports; impact on anti-Jewish legislation; employment on delivery work from 1942.
REEL 2 Continues: confiscation of Jewish businesses; fighting with local children; impact on religious observance; relations with other communities in town; types of employment. Aspects of period as inmate in Mateszalka Ghetto, Hungary, 4/1944-5/1944: rounding up of Jewish civilians in Rachov and transportation to camp; duration of stay in camp. Recollections of period as inmate in Auschwitz II-Birkenau Concentration Camp, Poland, 1944: journey in cattle trucks to camp including presence of Schutzstaffel (SS) guards, conditions on board and speculation as to destination; initial impressions of camp; selection procedure.
REEL 3 Continues: hearing sound of machine gun fire; induction procedure; accommodation in barrack hut; first appel; concerns for family; march into camp; hearing news of probable fate of family; description of camp; inmate's morale; receiving identification number; conditions in camp. Recollections of period as inmate in Fürstengrube Subcamp, Auschwitz II-Birkenau Concentration Camp, Poland, 1944-1945: transportation to camp; assault by kapos on arrival; assignment to coal mining school; question of boys under sixteen working in coal mines.
REEL 4 Continues: description of daily routine whilst working in coal mines; presence of Soviet prisoners of war; march to camp after shift and evening rations; his duties in mine; relations with civilian engineer; conditions in mine; removal of those unable to work; suicide amongst inmates; death of inmates in mines; incident when he missed the count at the end of his shift; incident when civilian engineer stopped him being beaten by kapo; method of being woken in barracks; barrack regulations; protection of boys by older inmates; orders for boys to rest for hour after shift; question of whether boys used for sexual purposes.
REEL 5 Continues: latrines; washing facilities; accommodation in barrack huts; degree of contact with Soviet prisoners of war; rations; language barrier amongst inmates; execution of inmates who attempted to escape; question of escape from camp and coal mine; inmate morale; absence of recreational activities; visits to brother and deterioration in his physical/psychological condition; religious observances; reaction to march through village; visit by Swiss Red Cross; execution of inmates after escape attempt was betrayed.
REEL 6 Continues: degree of awareness of war situation; nature of march away from camp to Gleiwitz, 1/1945. Aspects of train journey from Gleiwitz, Poland to Mauthausen Concentration Camp, Austria, 1/1945-2/1945: overcrowding in open trucks; efforts of German Army personnel to get food to prisoners; obtaining water from engine whilst dead bodies were being removed from train; efforts of Czech civilians to get food to prisoners; refusal of German civilian to give food to prisoners; death of brother, Moshe. Recollections of period as inmate in Mittelbau-Dora Concentration Camp, Germany, 2/1945-3/1945: physical condition on arrival in camp; allocation to accommodation block for boys.
REEL 7 Continues: stealing food; initial impressions of camp, 2/1945; rations; description of accommodation in barracks; work on V1 Flying Bomb production line inside mountain tunnel; deterioration in his physical condition; executions for suspected sabotage; treatment by SS; daily routine; latrines and washing facilities; lice; haircuts; reporting sick to camp hospital and recuperation week; efforts he made to evade being transported; sight of aerial activity.
REEL 8 Continues: obtaining extra food; deterioration of conditions in camp. Aspects of train journey to Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp in Germany, 3/1945: obtaining food for journey, 3/1945; boarding train at Mauthausen; escape of inmates from train; relations with SS guards; shortage of food and water; mixed nationalities of inmates on board and declining number of Jewish inmates; duration of journey; passing train full of female inmates. Aspects of period as inmate in Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, Germany, 3/1945-4/1945: atmosphere in camp; shortage of food; mixture of nationalities in camp; call for Jewish inmates to assemble and fear of massacre; Hungarian Army guards; behaviour of Ukrainian inmates; lack of sanitation; death rate; liberation of camp by British forces, 15/4/1945.
REEL 9 Continues: Aspects of period in Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp after liberation, Germany, 1945: reprisals against guards and kapos; food situation and problems eating following period of starvation; his visit to Soviet prisoner of war camp to obtain food; visit to abandoned German house; problems of former inmates eating; visit to typhoid camp to look for family and acquaintances; British efforts to control former inmates. Recollections of period as civilian in Germany, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, 1945-1946: move of Czechs to Celle, Germany; obtaining free food from German shops; careful consumption of food; issue of identity cards in Celle, Germany; impressions of British troops and their reaction to ex-inmates; move to Prague, Czechoslovakia and attempts to find family; move to Budapest, Hungary and success in finding sister; conditions in Hungary.
REEL 10 Continues: return journey to Rachov, Czechoslovakia including sight of German prisoners of war; arrival in Rachov, Czechoslovakia; arrest and interrogation by Soviets; return to old house; fate of family; decision to leave Czechoslovakia following Soviet Army officer's advice; move to Budapest, Hungary; contact with Jewish deportees from Soviet Union; attitude towards period in camp preparing young people to go to Palestine; black market activities; move to Sudetenland area in Czechoslovakia; employment in garage, autumn 1945; sense of isolation and loneliness; anti-Semitism in work place.
REEL 11 Continues: Aspects of emigration to GB, 1946: selection procedure; journey from Prague, Czechoslovakia to Newhaven, GB, 6/1946; reception on arrival in GB; accommodation in hostel in London; employment in garages, 1946-1947; instances of anti-Semitism; reflections on camp experience.