Description
Object description
Polish Jewish civilian in Będzin, Poland, 9/1939-9/1940; inmate in Będzin Ghetto, 10/1940-8/1943; inmate in Auschwitz II-Birkenau, Auschwitz I Concentration Camps in Poland, 8/1943-1/1945 and Ravensbrück Concentration Camp and Zwodau Subcamp, Flossenbürg, Concentration Camp, Germany, 1/1945-5/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Będzin, Poland, 1922-1939: family; education; Jewish population of town; family business; Zionist character of Jewish population; membership of HaNoar HaTzioni youth organisation; knowledge of Nazi regime in Germany; story of meeting husband Mordecai Lichtenstein and subsequent marriage in 1941. Aspects of period as civilian in Będzin, Poland, 9/1939-9/1940: German Air Force bombing of town, 9/1939; attempt to leave Będzin and German internment of male relatives; subsequent release of father.
REEL 2 Continues: German burning of synagogue. Aspects of period as inmate in Będzin Ghetto, Poland, 1940-1943: internment in ghetto; arrival of Jews expelled from neighbouring communities; increasing restrictions on Jewish population; reasons for having abortion, 1943. Aspects of deportation from Będzin Ghetto to Auschwitz II-Birkenau Concentration Camp, Poland, 8/1943: start of deportations, 1/8/1943; journey in cattle truck; German separation of young and old; procedure on arrival; receiving tattoo; fate of family members.
REEL 3 Continues: Aspects of period as inmate in Będzin Ghetto, Poland, 1940-1943: conditions in ghetto; father's attempts to obtain visa for South America; inmates who did emigrate; rations; attempts to hide. Recollections of period as inmate in Auschwitz II-Birkenau and Auschwitz I Concentration Camps, Poland, 8/1943-1/1945: block accommodation in Auschwitz II-Birkenau; clothing; lice; appells; work in sewing kommando; different nationalities in camp; death of sister-in-law from typhus; drinking own urine to survive typhus; desire to feel and look feminine; refusal to take advantage of privileged work and position.
REEL 4 Continues: story of avoiding selection due to kindness of block controller; physical condition after typhus; visit to ill inmate; hiding under desk of friend in office during working hours; treatment for frostbitten/chilblained feet in hospital; applying to work in 'Canada'; discovery of baby whilst working in 'Canada'; receiving letter from husband; description of 'Canada'; smuggling gold out of 'Canada' for camp underground.
REEL 5 Continues: Sonderkommando uprising and destruction of crematorium in Auschwitz II-Birkenau, 10/1944; transfer to main Auschwitz I Camp; Allied bombing raids; importance of her friendships with other inmates; description of physical condition and appearance; fate of younger brother in Auschwitz II-Birkenau; attitude towards Red Cross; reaction to Soviet Army taking so long to enter camp, 1/1945. Aspects of journey from Auschwitz I Camp, Poland to Ravensbrück Concentration Camp, Germany, 1/1945: conditions on march and on train; rations; physical condition of male prisoners.
REEL 6 Continues: lack of emotion amongst inmates; accommodation; suffering dysentery; Allied air raids. Aspects of period as inmate in Zwodau Subcamp, Flossenbürg Concentration Camp, Germay, 2/1945-5/1945: concealing Jewish identity; work collecting wood and in kitchens; betrayal of Jewish identity by gypsy girl; imprisonment in cellar; liberation by United States Army troops; meeting Jewish American soldier; care received from American personnel after liberation including rations. Aspects of period as refugee in France and GB, 1945-1946: reaction to move to France; aid from old family friend; making contact with husband in GB after British Broadcasting Corporation radio broadcast; story of husband's escape from death march and emigration to GB; reunion with husband in GB, 1946.
REEL 7 Continues: learning English language; search for family. Reflections on Holocaust experience: impact on religious beliefs; physical effects of experience; question of survival; reaction of return visit to Poland during 1980s; story of how she is pictured in German film made in Auschwitz I Concentration Camp captured by the Soviets; difficulties in explaining imprisonment in Auschwitz II-Birkenau Concentration Camp; impact of experience on children.