More than 70 years after the Holocaust, hatred, antisemitism, and genocide still threaten our world. The life stories of Holocaust survivors transcend the decades and remind us of the constant need to be vigilant citizens and to stop injustice, prejudice, and hatred wherever and whenever they occur.
This podcast series features excerpts from 48 interviews with Holocaust survivors conducted at the Museum as part of our First Person public program. Listen to these interview excerpts below. You can also watch video recordings of interviews from our First Person seasons here.
First Person is made possible by generous support from the Louis Franklin Smith Foundation with additional funding from the Arlene and Daniel Fisher Foundation..
Blog Home > poland
-
Estelle Laughlin: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
August 11, 2010
Estelle Laughlin discusses the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, when German forces, intending to liquidate the ghetto on April 19, 1943, were stunned by an armed uprising from Jewish fighters. Estelle and her family hid in an underground bunker during the uprising but were eventually captured and deported.
-
Henry Greenbaum: Attempting Escape from a Slave Labor Camp
August 26, 2009
Henry Greenbaum discusses his attempt to escape from a slave labor camp near Starahowice, Poland, with his sister Faige and a Jewish policeman in July 1944.
-
Estelle Laughlin: Post-Liberation Struggles
July 21, 2009
Estelle Laughlin discusses her liberation by Soviet troops in January 1945 from the Czestochowa concentration camp in Poland. In the days immediately following liberation, she and her mother and sister encountered both hostile and helpful people as they traveled through Poland and struggled to rebuild their lives.
-
Regina Spiegel: Separation at Auschwitz
July 8, 2009
Regina Spiegel discusses her deportation from the ghetto in Pionki, Poland, and her arrival at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi killing center. She and her boyfriend, Sam, were deported together in 1944 but were separated upon arrival at Auschwitz.
-
Julius Menn: Flight from Invading German Troops
July 1, 2009
Julius Menn discusses his family's flight eastward from advancing German troops invading Poland in September 1939. Julius's family escaped from Bialystok, Poland, to Vilna, Lithuania, eventually making their way through the Soviet Union to Palestine, where they had previously lived.
-
Helen Luksenburg: Forming a Friendship in Gleiwitz
June 23, 2009
Helen Luksenburg discusses forming a close friendship with Welek, now William Luksenburg, a fellow prisoner in Gleiwitz, a subcamp of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
-
David Bayer: Life After the German Invasion of Poland
June 16, 2009
David Bayer discusses life in his hometown of Kozienice after the German invasion of Poland in September, 1939. Shortly after the invasion David and his family were harassed, humiliated, and subjected to acts of violence by the German occupiers and their collaborators.
-
Manya Friedman: Death March to Ravensbrück
May 27, 2009
Manya Friedman discusses her evacuation from Gleiwitz, a subcamp of Auschwitz, to the Ravensbrück concentration camp in January 1945. In an effort to cover up their crimes and prevent prisoners from falling into enemy hands, the Nazis evacuated prisoners in what became known as death marches.
-
Charlene Schiff: A Daughter’s Separation from Her Mother
May 19, 2009
Charlene Schiff discusses her and her mother’s escape in 1942 from the Horochow ghetto in Poland. Soon after their escape, Charlene was separated from her mother. She spent the rest of the war looking for her mother and hiding for her life in the forests.
-
Marcel Drimer: Escaping the “Concert of Death”
April 15, 2009
Marcel Drimer, his sister, and mother hid in a wheat field while a German aktion—a violent operation against Jewish civilians— occurred in their town of Drohobycz, Poland, in August 1942.
