Videotape testimony of Chaim D., who was born in Neresnyt︠s︡i︠a︡, Czechoslovakia (presently Ukraine) in 1930, one of four children. He recounts attending cheder and public school; Hungarian occupation; antisemitic harassment; his father's deportation (they never saw him again); his siblings moving to Budapest; assistance from the Joint; German invasion in spring 1944; his siblings return; deportation with his family to the Mátészalka ghetto, then five weeks later to Auschwitz/Birkenau; separation with his brother from his mother and sisters; transfer to Buchenwald a few days later; slave labor constructing a Brabag factory in Zeitz; Allied bombings; a privileged assignment outside the camp (they could obtain extra food); rabbis leading prayers; Czech and Italian prisoners of war sharing Red Cross packages with them; deteriorating conditions with increased bombings; separation from his brother when he was returned to Buchenwald due to his weakness; hospitalization; and a Czech prisoner-doctor caring for his group of young people, then hiding them in a brothel during evacuation.

Mr. D. recalls liberation by United States troops; transfer to an orphanage in Prague; reunion with two cousins; learning his brother had not survived; traveling to Budapest; reunion with his sister; their brief return to Neresnyt︠s︡i︠a︡; joining a group preparing to emigrate to Palestine; assistance from the Joint; traveling with Beriḥah to Prague; his sister's emigration to Palestine; hospitalization; rejoining his group in Landsberg displaced persons camp; their move to Holzhausen; assistance from UNRRA; illegal emigration with his group by ship in 1947; interdiction by the British; incarceration on Cyprus for six months; reunion with his sister; participation in the 1948 war; marriage to a survivor; their seven biological and ten adopted/foster children; and teaching agriculture in Zaire (Congo) and Kenya. Mr. D. discusses relations between prisoner groups; his and his brother's focus on survival; building his new family in Israel; and sharing his story with his children without burdening them.

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) > Personal narratives.

World War, 1939-1945 > Personal narratives, Jewish.

World War, 1939-1945 > Children.

Jews > Hungary > Mátészalka.

Concentration camps > Sociological aspects.

Concentration camps > Psychological aspects.

Concentration camp inmates > Religious life.

Prisoners of war > Czechoslovakia.

Prisoners of war > Italy.

Prisoners of war > Germany.

Orphanages > Czechoslovakia.

Palestine > Emigration and immigration.