Philip K. and Isabella L. Holocaust testimony (HVT-1319) [videorecording] / interviewed by Lawrence L. Langer, April 17, 1990.

New Haven, Conn. : Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, 1990.

1 videorecording (2 hr., 8 min.) : col.

English

A follow-up, directed videotape testimony of Philip K., whose first testimony was recorded in 1989. Mr. K. describes Jewish education, culture, and community in Kisvárda; ghettoization by Hungarian troops in spring 1944, including thousands from surrounding areas; his recognition of danger in spite of others' Hungarian patriotism; deportation to Auschwitz; the entirely different conception of time in concentration camps; a rabbi who kept a mental Jewish calendar and helped him maintain kashruth; dealing with entirely new moral issues; the uncontrollable power of hunger; his desperation when he volunteered for transfer to Dachau; his ongoing and futile search for understanding how and why the Holocaust occurred and why lessons have not been learned; the importance and difficulty of redefining resistance and heroism under previously unimaginable circumstances; the contrast between Nazi and Jewish ideology; the profound change in world events marked by the Holocaust; survivors' profound difficulty learning to live again; his wish not to receive special treatment as a survivor; and the variety of experiences ("There are as many ways of survival as survivors"). He is joined briefly by his sister who discusses her efforts to memorialize those killed in the Holocaust and problems of survivors' children.

June 01, 2002

Philip K. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1319). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.

Philip K. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1319). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.

Oral histories (document genres)