Videotape testimony of Nathan R., who was born in Sevluš, Czechoslovakia (presently Vynohradiv, Ukraine) in 1928, the older of two children. He recounts his aunt's emigration to Palestine in 1933; attending cheder and public school; cordial relations with non-Jews; his father's work as a blacksmith; his bar mitzvah; attending gymnasium in Berehove; returning home after Hungarian occupation; attending a Zionist gymnasium in Mukacheve from 1942 to 1944; German invasion in March; returning home; ghettoization; his aunt's non-Jewish boyfriend smuggling food to them; his mother entrusting valuables with a non-Jewish friend (she returned them to Mr. R. after the war); deportation to Auschwitz/Birkenau in June; separation from his mother and sister; his father volunteering himself as a blacksmith and him as his assistant; prisoners committing suicide; overwhelming starvation; his father sharing his bread; praying together on Rosh ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur; public hangings; a death march to Gross-Rosen, then Dachau; the deaths of his uncle and father; and liberation by United States troops.

Mr. R. recalls returning home via Prague; living with a surviving aunt; traveling to Budapest, intending to emigrate to Palestine; assistance from Beriḥah reaching the Judenberg displaced persons camp; traveling illegally to Milan; joining Hashomer Hatzair; assistance from UNRRA; selling goods in Rome; transfer to Cinecittà; deferring illegal emigration to Palestine, not wanting to be incarcerated again, but not being allowed to remain in Italy; traveling to Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Montevideo, then Buenos Aires in 1946; emigration to Israel in 1948; military draft in the Arab-Israel war; marriage; and the births of two children. Mr. R. discusses the importance of being with his father to his survival; suppressing all emotions in the camps; nightmares resulting from his experiences; losing all belief in God; his unresolved emotional struggles; and continuing to question whether his survival was “worth it.” Mr. R. notes visiting the camps and shows photographs.

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

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

World War, 1939-1945 > Children.

Jews > Ukraine > Vynohradiv.

Concentration camp inmates > Family relationships.

World War, 1939-1945 > Atrocities.

Concentration camp inmates > Religious life.

Concentration camps > Psychological aspects.