Jewish Museum in Prague, Terezín Collection, inv. no 343. Original in Czech.
Testimony of Edita Ornsteinová, which became a part of the “documentation campaign” in Prague. Ornsteinová describes the history of Theresienstadt from its beginning to the liberation of the ghetto by the Red Army. The core of her testimony revolves…
Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, Holocaust Survivor Testimonies (coll. 301), Mejer Lencow Testimony (301/805). Original in Polish.
Testimony of Meier Lenc, who lived in the Sokal Ghetto until its liquidation and then escaped to the “Aryan side”. He was captured by German police and later ran away from the grave he had been forced to dig for himself. He spent several months in…
The Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide, Eyewitness testimony Collection (coll. 1656), 633. Original in French. Translated for the Wiener Library by Sue Boswell.
Testimony of an anonymous Jewish refugee from Belgium. He was arrested on the street in Brussels in 1942 and interned in the Malines internment camp, before being taken by train to Russia, near Stalingrad. He was forced to work in a camp probably run…
The Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide, Eyewitness testimony Collection (coll. 1656), 23. Original in English.
Testimony of “Miss X”, whose mother was “Aryan” and whose father was Jewish. Her parents divorced for personal reasons and her mother married an “Aryan”. She describes her school, not being allowed to go to university, having to absolve a…
The Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide, Eyewitness testimony Collection (coll. 1656), 158. Original in German.
Testimony of Renate Lasker-Allais, who was deported to Auschwitz in December 1943 after one and a half years in prison. She was arrested for helping French POWs escape. She describes in detail life and death in Auschwitz. Lasker-Allais had knowledge…
The Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide, Eyewitness testimony Collection (coll. 1656), 540. Original in German
Testimony of Julia (Maria) Abraham-Stern, a trained seamstress. Her husband and son were deported, while she and her daughter were sent to the Lwów Ghetto with her parents. Her mother committed suicide to allow her to go into hiding with her daughter…
The Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide, Eyewitness testimony Collection (coll. 1656), 771. Original in German.
Account of Magda Szanto on the rapid decree of antisemitic regulations in Budapest and how they affected daily life, for example shopping and robbery by German soldiers and ethnic Germans. She describes the difficulties of communicating with her…
The Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide, Eyewitness testimony Collection (coll. 1656), 413. Original in German and English (summary page).
Testimony of Emil Carlebach, a communist activist from a prominent rabbinical family. He was instrumental in the resistance in Buchenwald. Carlebach describes corruption amongst the guards, how political prisoners gained a certain control over the…
Yad Vashem Archives, The Ball-Kaduri Collection: Contemporary testimonies and reports regarding the Holocaust of the Jews of Germany and Central Europe, 1943-1960 (O.1), file no. 3549219.Original in German.
Two reports by Rosa Rachel Schwarz, a social worker in Vienna, about her experiences as head of the welfare department of the Jewish community after the German annexation, 1938–1940, especially about the organization of the Kindertransports. The file…
Yad Vashem Archives, The Ball-Kaduri Collection: Contemporary testimonies and reports regarding the Holocaust of the Jews of Germany and Central Europe, 1943-1960 (O.1), file no. 3549264.Original in English.
Personal report by Max Mannheimer, born in 1918, regarding his experiences in Amsterdam, The Hague, Westerbork, Theresienstadt, and Auschwitz.
