Description
Object description
Polish Jewish inmate of Lubin Ghetto, Poland, 1939-1942; in hiding in Żabia Wola and Lubin, Poland, 1942; forced labourer in IG Farben factory in Bitterfeld, Germany, 1942-1943; arrest and imprisonment in Gestapo Headquarters, Bitterfeld and Dresden Prison, Germany, 3/1943-4/1943; inmate in Auschwitz II-Birkenau Concentration Camp, Poland, 4/1943-11/1944 and Gross-Rosen Concentration Camp, Germany, 11/1944-2/1945; forced labourer in Philips Factory, Krefeld, Germany, 3/1945; inmate of Salzwedel Subcamp, Neuengamme Concentration Camp, Germany, 3/1945-4/1945; interpreter with Friends Relief Service Team 100, United Nations Relief and Rehabiliation Administration (UNRRA) in Brunswick, Germany, 1945-1946
Content description
REEL 1 Recollections of period as schoolchild in Bielsko-Biała and Lubin, Poland, 1926-1939: first experience of anti-Semitism, 1938; family; character of Bielsko-Biala; signs of coming war, 8/1939; family's decision to move to Lubin, 8/1939; arrival of German forces and bombing of city, 9/1939; enforced restrictions on population. Recollections of period as inmate in Lubin Ghetto, Poland, 1939-1942: formation of ghetto; restrictions in ghetto; influx of Jews from other European countries; deteriorating conditions in ghetto; attempt to escape to Soviet occupied Poland, 1941; return to ghetto; how family used sewers to get out of ghetto to barter for food; lack of awareness of outside world.
REEL 2 Continues: disorganisation in ghetto; role of Jewish Council (Judenrat); escape from ghetto, 1942. Aspects of period in hiding in Żabia Wola and Lubin, Poland, 1942: arrival in small peasant community; working on Polish aristocrat's estate; pro-German sympathies of Ukrainians and Lithuanians; decision to leave village prior to round up of villagers; hiding in hunting lodge near village; how father Karol Felix obtained false papers from priest Father Krasowski in Lubin; story of having teeth filled with diamonds; new non-Jewish identity and separation of family. Aspects of period as forced labourer at IG Farben factory in Bitterfeld, Germany, 1943: obtaining place with mother Lola Felix on forced labour transport heading for Germany; work in office.
REEL 3 Continues: having to 'Heil Hitler' on entering office; contact with father; social interaction in factory; discovery of Jewish identity and arrest of Jewish girls in group, 13/3/1943. Aspects of imprisonment in Gestapo Headquarters, Bitterfeld and Dresden Prison in Germany, 3/1943-4/1943: interrogation by Gestapo; mock trial and execution; interrogation regarding false papers; removal to Dresden Prison; sentencing to life imprisonment in a concentration camp; adapting to situation and mother Lola Felix's outlook; character of other inmates. Recollections of period as inmate in Auschwitz II-Birkenau Concentration Camp, Poland, 4/1943-11/1944: nature of train journey to camp; procedure on arrival, 6/4/1943; receiving tattoo; conditions in camp; roll calls.
REEL 4 Continues: description of first night in camp; organisation of camp; employment of mother Lola Felix in hospital compound; hard labour work; attaching herself to Siemens factory work group; methods of avoiding work; relations with other inmates; delousing of inmates; contracting typhus and how she survived bout; awareness of extermination system and human experimentation in camp.
REEL 5 Continues: role of German doctors; dehumanisation of inmates by Germans; inmates' loss will to live; her resistance to drinking soup; opinion that male inmates had a better chance of survival than female inmates; sexual relations in camp; importance of safeguarding possessions; camp orchestra; work in hospital block; memories of Dr Josef Mengele; sights of inmates being sent to crematoria; volunteering to work in 'Kanada' block, 5/1944.
REEL 6 Continues: description of 'Kanada' block; duties sorting and storing inmates possessions; relations with other inmates; witnessing mass exterminations; smuggling food on trips into main camp; work sorting out men's jackets; witnessing operation of gas chambers and crematoriums; influx of Hungarian Jews, 5/1944-6/1944; story of how stolen valuables were passed to male inmates involved in resistance work; Schutzstaffel (SS) man who fell in love with Czech Jewess; memories of SS Obersturmfuhrer Martin Gottfried Weiss nicknamed 'The William Tell of Auschwitz' and her subsequent appearance at his trial, 1989; beatings carried out by kapos.
REEL 7 Continues: story of her punishment for stealing firewood; privileged status of messenger girls; story of female inmate who escaped with Polish boyfriend, was recaptured and cut her wrists to thwart hangman; description of events leading up to uprising staged by Sonderkommando crematoria workers on 6/10/1944; sight of Schutzstaffel (SS) man putting Zyklon B into gas chamber; witnessing executions and burials; signs that camp was to be closed down, 10/1944; background to obtaining place on transport with mother Lola Felix out of camp, 11/1944. Aspects of period as inmate in Gross-Rosen Concentration Camp, Germany, 11/1944-2/1945: arrival at camp, 11/1944.
REEL 8 Continues: description of camp as base camp for smaller subcamps in area; work in Telefunken factory; rations and diet; receiving food from German civilian; obtaining firewood; lack of reliable war news. Aspects of march away from Gross-Rosen Concentration Camp, Germany, 2/1945-3/1945: start of march towards Sudentenland, 18/2/1945; need to steal food; raiding German refugee carts at summit of Grosse Eule; effects of beating by guard; stopover at Trautenau Subcamp; obtaining whole loaf of bread; transportation in cattle truck to Krefeld, Germany.
REEL 9 Continues: Aspects of period as forced labourer in Philips Factory, Krefeld, Germany, 3/1945: eating acorns and leaves; duties; division into two groups and extermination of one; evacuation back into Germany including brief stop at Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp; conditions on board train to camp; release by German troops and demand to be taken to concentration camp. Aspects of period as inmate in Salzwedel Subcamp, Neuengamme Concentration Camp, Germany, 3/1945-4/1945: lack of food; protection recieved from liberated French prisoners of war; taking knife from lone Schutzstaffel (SS) man; liberation by Americans; raiding Schutzstaffel (SS) bread store on liberation; raiding town of Salzwedel; story of refusing to kill German civilians in cellar; work interpreting at conference regarding division of area, 4/1945.
REEL 10 Continues: Recollections of period as interpreter with Friends Relief Service Team 100, United Nations Relief and Rehabiliation Administration (UNRRA) in Brunswick, Germany, 1945-1946: work as interpreter; formation of Displaced Person camps for Poles; opinion of Quakers; reluctance of Poles to return to Poland; search for relatives; fate of family; appearing as defence witness at trial of SS Obersturmfuhrer Franz Hossler; identifying Schutzstaffel (SS) women; prior recollection of behaviour of female Schutzstaffel (SS) camp guards; prior recollections of position of Jews and treatment of Gypsies in Auschwitz II-Birkenau Concentration Camp. Recollections of period as civilian in GB, 1946-1996: obtaining special entry permits; work restrictions and desire to return to education.
REEL 11 Continues: comparison between GB and Germany; reception received from uncle; lack of help and support from Jewish community in Birmingham; pressure to train as nurse and leaving; desire to return to Displaced Persons camp in Germany; remarks regarding her concentration camp tattoo; question of indifference of others towards her experience; gaining qualification in radiology; difficulties adjusting to normal life; relations with mother Lola Felix.
REEL 12 Continues: story of spending Christmas 1947 alone and on the streets; generosity of Dr Brailsford; studying for and passing final radiology examinations, 4/1949; meeting and marrying first husband, Rudi Hart, 1949; removal and preservation of camp tattoo; impact of camp experiences on post-war behaviour. Recollections of involvement in various Holocaust projects: attitude towards portrayal of Holocaust in media; writing about her experiences in her book 'I Am Alive' (1961).
REEL 13 Continues: generosity of Jane Levy; problems in obtaining compensation for camp experiences; involvement with Yorkshire Television documentary 'Kitty: Return to Auschwitz' (1978); reaction to returning to Auschwitz II-Birkenau Concentration Camp; response to documentary; organising the display of the Auschwitz exhibition in GB; belief in importance of oral history projects; lessons learnt from Holocaust experience.
REEL 14 Continues: invitation by German mayor of Salzwedel to return for commemoration, 6/1996; opinion that German civilians were aware of the concentrations camp; refusal of former Schutzstaffel (SS) officer to participate in documentary with her; difficulties in adjusting to normal life in GB.