Description
Object description
Polish Jewish inmate of Warsaw Ghetto, 11/1940-3/1943; in hiding in Warsaw, Poland, 3/1943-1/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Warsaw, Poland, 1930-1939: family; education. Recollections of period as schoolchild in Warsaw, Poland, 1939-1940: memories of German invasion of Poland, 9/1939; German Air Force bombing of Warsaw, 9/1939; receiving news of father in Białystok. Recollections of period as inmate in Warsaw Ghetto, Warsaw, Poland 1940-1943: formation of ghetto, 1940; character of ghetto boundaries in early days; setting up of Jewish Council and police force; German raids; arrangement by which inmates received postcards; arrival of her father from Białystok; enforcement of wearing of Star of David armbands; epidemics in ghetto; setting up of workshops; over-crowding; work making brooms.
REEL 2 Continues: method of evading deportations; German use of Ukrainian auxiliaries; separation from her father during selection; removal of some deportees by lorry; aid received from relative in Jewish Ghetto Police; method of concealment found by relative; escape from hiding place; fate of relative serving in Jewish Ghetto Police; mother's determination to survive. Recollections of period in hiding in Poland, 3/1943-1/1945: escape with mother from Warsaw Ghetto, 3/1943; evading capture by German forces; raid by Polish Blue Police looking for Jews in hiding.
REEL 3 Continues: behaviour of Polish Blue Police; aid obtained by mother from medical professor and clergyman; her conversion to Christianity; attempt to find sanctuary in closed convent; obtaining place in second sanctuary on outskirts of Warsaw; effect of experiences in Warsaw Ghetto; dealing with father confessor who suspected her background; separation from mother at start of Warsaw Uprising, 8/1944.
REEL 4 Continues: use of convent grounds by Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa), 8/1944; evacuation of convent; end of Warsaw Uprising, 10/1944; work in butcher's shop after Warsaw Uprising; sight of surrendered Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa) personnel; problems caused when German forces surrounded in Warsaw area, 1/1945. Recollections of period as civilian living in Poland, 1945-1946: hiding away from Soviet Army front line troops; impressions of Soviet Army; reliance on Soviet Army officers for protection; re-uniting with her mother; story of mother's survival and her tracing of her daughter; effect of Roman Catholic instruction on her.
REEL 5 Continues: resuming life and education in Łódź, 1945; treatment of Jewish civilians by Poles, 1945; Polish-Jewish relations prior to 1939; mother's decision to send her to GB, 11/1946; nature of Jewish refugee transports to GB, 1946-1947. Aspects of period as civilian in GB, 1946-1951: problems of settling down in orthodox environment in Stoke Newington; circumstances of move to Cricklewood; problems with family in Cricklewood; attempts to get help from relatives.
REEL 6 Continues: method of obtaining place in hostel; employment obtained in London; mother's move from Poland to Israel, 1949; question of nationality, 1946-1951; refusal of mother's offer to go to Israel; how she obtained a domestic permit for her mother, 1950; starting own jewellery company; meeting with future husband.