Nurtman, Moshe (Oral history)

Polish Jewish inmate of Warka and Kozienice Ghettos, Poland, 1940-1942; forced labourer with Hugo Schneider Aktiengesellschaft munitions factory in Skarzysko-Kamienna Labour Camp, Poland, 12/1942-7/1944; inmate in Buchenwald Concentration Camp, Germany and Theresienstadt Concentration Camp, Czechoslovakia, 8/1944-5/1945

REEL 1 Recollections of background in Warka, Poland, 1929-1939: family circumstances; education; languages spoken; Polish right wing boycott of Jewish shops; religious character of family. Aspects of period as schoolchild in Warka, Poland, 1939-1940: sight of bombing during German invasion of Poland, 9/1939; search by German troops; restrictions imposed against Jews; treatment of Jewish civilians by Germans; selling of family's possessions; character of German and Polish abuse of Jews. Recollections of period as inmate in Warka Ghetto, Poland, 1940: setting up of ghetto, 1940. REEL 2 Continues: living conditions including food and heating; contracting typhus in ghetto. Aspects of period in Mniszew, Poland, 1940-1941: reasons for moving outside of ghetto to Mniszew, 1940; accommodation with Polish women; expeditions to beg for food; evading German and Polish patrols. Recollections of period as inmate in Kozenice Ghetto, Poland, 1941-1942: layout of ghetto; beating received from Jewish policeman; his escape from ghetto, summer 1941. REEL 3 Continues: news of fate of Jews in Kozienice Ghetto, 9/1942; work on drainage canal; return to ghetto. Recollections of period as forced labourer with Hugo Schneider Aktiengesellschaft munitions factory in Skarzysko-Kamienna Labour Camp, Poland, 12/1942-7/1944: work in ammunition factory; acquiring transport job; incident involving Ukrainian guards; lucky escape from blame for accident to drunken guard; how he was used by guards to pass information into camp to discourage escapes; removal to Czestochowa during Soviet Army's advance, 7/1944; conditions during train journey from Czestochowa to Buchenwald Concentration Camp in Germany, 7/1944. REEL 4 Continues: Recollections of period as inmate in Buchenwald Concentration Camp, Germany, 8/1944-4/1945: punishment of Jewish policeman by inmates; address by political prisoners; duties of blockmaster in childrens' block; conditions in childrens' block; volunteering to clear bomb debris in Weimar. Recollections of period as inmate in Theresienstadt Concentration Camp, 4/1945-5/1945: death of prisoners on journey to camp; conditions in camp; difficulty of comprehending end of war, 5/1945. REEL 5 Continues: Recollections of period as inmate of Buchenwald Concentration Camp, Germany and Theresienstadt Concentration Camp, Czechoslovakia, 8/1944-5/1945: behaviour of inmates towards each other; beatings received; selection of kapos; competition for position as kapo; food and water supply in Buchenwald Concentration Camp; reaction to Nazi persecution of the Jews.