First Person: Conversations with Holocaust Survivors
by United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
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Description
This podcast series features excerpts from interviews with Holocaust survivors presented at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's public program, First Person -- Conversations with Holocaust Survivors. More than sixty 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.
| Name | Description | Released | Price | ||
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1 |
Holocaust Survivors' Reflections and Hopes for the Future | In today's episode Holocaust survivors share their thoughts on the importance of speaking about their experiences. It is our tradition at First Person that each guest speaker ends the program with their "final words." In our final podcast of the series, we close with those thoughts, reflections, and hopes for the future. | 9/29/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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2 |
Estelle Laughlin: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising | Estelle Laughlin discusses the Warsaw ghetto uprising. German forces intended to liquidate the ghetto on April 19, 1943, but were stunned when faced with an armed uprising from Jewish fighters. Estelle and her family hid in an underground bunker during the uprising but were eventually captured and deported. | 8/11/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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3 |
Theodora Klayman: Shelter in Ludbreg | Dora Klayman discusses surviving the war in hiding with her brother in Ludbreg, Yugoslavia. After her parents were deported in 1941, she spent the war first with her maternal aunt and then, after her aunt was denounced and deported, with non-Jewish neighbors. | 7/13/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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4 |
Steven Fenves: Neighbors in Subotica | Steven Fenves discusses being forced into a ghetto immediately following the German occupation of his hometown of Subotica, Yugoslavia, in March 1944. As his family was forced out of their home, they encountered a range of responses from their non-Jewish neighbors. | 6/8/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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5 |
Alfred Münzer: Difficult Decisions in the Occupied Netherlands | Al Munzer discusses the difficult decisions his parents, Dutch Jews, had to make after learning in early 1941 that they were expecting a child. Germany had invaded the Netherlands in May 1940 and conditions were growing increasingly difficult for Jews by the time Al was born. | 5/11/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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6 |
Josiane Traum: Hiding in a Convent in Brugge | Josy Traum discusses her memories of life in hiding at a Carmelite convent in Brugge, Belgium. In 1942, as conditions grew increasingly more dangerous for Jews living in German-occupied Belgium, Josy’s mother, Fanny, arranged to have Belgian nuns hide her three-year-old daughter in the convent. | 4/27/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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7 |
Henry Greenbaum: Attempting Escape from a Slave Labor Camp | Henry Greenbaum discusses his attempt to escape from a slave labor camp near Starahowice, Poland, in July 1944. Henry attempted the escape along with his sister Faige and a Jewish policeman. | 8/26/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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8 |
Haim Solomon: Hiding during the Pogrom in Iasi | Haim Solomon discusses hiding during the pogrom in Iasi, Romania. Within days of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Romanian authorities staged a pogrom against the Jewish population in Iasi. Haim and his family hid in various different locations across the city. In all, at least 4,000 Jews were murdered in Iasi during the pogrom. | 8/19/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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9 |
Margit Meissner: Flight from Paris on a Bicycle | Margit Meissner discusses her flight from Paris just before the city fell to the Germans in June 1940. Margit and her mother were Austrian citizens living in Paris, which meant they were considered “enemy aliens” because Austria was annexed by Germany in 1938. They were ultimately separated and Margit was left with the responsibility of getting safely out of Paris on her own. | 8/12/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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10 |
Gerald Schwab: A German Jewish Refugee Returns as an American Soldier | Gerald Schwab discusses his experience being drafted into the US Army in 1944 after fleeing Nazi Germany just four years earlier. After the war, Gerald went on to assist with the trials of leading German officials before the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. | 8/5/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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11 |
Helen Goldkind: A Grandfather's Humiliation | Helen Goldkind discusses the humiliation she and her family experienced as they were forced by the Germans to move from their hometown of Volosyanka to the Uzhgorod Ghetto in Czechoslovakia in 1944. | 7/28/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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12 |
Manny Mandel: Wearing the Yellow Star as a Child in Hungary | Manny Mandel discusses wearing yellow star as a young boy in Budapest. Hungary fell increasingly under the influence of Germany in the 1930s and joined the Axis alliance in 1940. During this time Jews in Hungary were increasingly subjected to discriminatory anti-Jewish laws modeled on those in Germany. | 7/22/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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13 |
Estelle Laughlin: Post-Liberation Struggles | Estelle Laughlin discusses her liberation by Soviet troops in January 1945 from the Czestochowa concentration camp in Poland. In the days immediately following liberation, Estelle along with her mother and sister encountered both hostile and helpful people as they traveled through Poland and struggled to rebuild their lives. | 7/21/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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14 |
George Pick: Antisemitism in Hungary | George Pick discusses experiencing antisemitism as a young boy in Hungary in the early 1940s. Hungary fell increasingly under the influence of Germany in the 1930s and joined the Axis alliance in 1940. During this time Jews in Hungary were increasingly subjected to discriminatory anti-Jewish laws modeled on those in Germany. | 7/15/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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15 |
Frank Liebermann: Changes in Germany After Nazi Rise to Power | Frank Liebermann discusses life in Germany after the Nazis came to power in 1933. Shortly after taking power the Nazis began to eliminate individual rights and freedoms for Jews in Germany. This changed daily life for Frank and his family in many ways. Frank's father was a physician and it became increasingly difficult for him to practice medicine after 1933. | 7/14/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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16 |
Regina Spiegel: Separation at Auschwitz | Regina Spiegel discusses her deportation from the ghetto in Pionki, Poland, and her arrival at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi killing center. Regina and her boyfriend Sam were deported together in 1944, but were separated upon arrival at Auschwitz. | 7/8/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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17 |
Julius Menn: Flight from Invading German Troops | Julius Menn discusses his family's flight eastward from advancing German troops invading Poland in September 1939. Julius' family escaped from Bialystok, Poland to Vilna, Lithuania, eventually making their way through the Soviet Union to Palestine, where they had previously lived. | 7/1/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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18 |
Isak Danon: Attack on the Synagogue in Split | Isak Danon discusses the attack on the synagogue in his hometown of Split, Yugoslavia in the summer of 1942. Germany had invaded Yugoslavia in April 1941, and shortly after Split was occupied by the Italians, allied to Nazi Germany. | 6/30/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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19 |
Fritz Gluckstein: Berlin in the Aftermath of World War II | Fritz Gluckstein discusses life immediately after WWII in Berlin and his eventual immigration to the United States. Fritz was born to a Jewish father and Christian mother and under Nazi law was classified as Mischlinge, of mixed ancestry, or part Jewish. Fritz spent the war in Berlin assigned to various forced labor battalions. | 6/24/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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20 |
Helen Luksenburg: Forming a Friendship in Gleiwitz | Helen Luksenburg discusses forming a close friendship with Welek, now William Luksenburg, a fellow prisoner in Gleiwitz, a sub-camp of the Auschwitz concentration camp. | 6/23/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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21 |
Louise Lawrence-Israels: First Days of Freedom | Louise Lawrence-Israels discusses her first memories of freedom after over 2 years spent in hiding with her family in an apartment in Amsterdam. In May, 1945, Canadian forces liberated Amsterdam. Louise was 3 years old and initially had difficulty adjusting to the world outside the apartment, having never been outside for the duration of the hiding. | 6/17/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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22 |
David Bayer: Life After the German Invasion of Poland | 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. | 6/16/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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23 |
Susan Taube: Deportation to the Riga Ghetto | Susan Taube discusses her deportation from Berlin to the ghetto in Riga, Latvia and the days immediately following. Susan was deported in January, 1942 along with her mother, sister, and grandmother. | 6/9/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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24 |
Morris Rosen: Forced Evacuation | Morris Rosen discusses his evacuation and forced march on foot in February 1945 from a sub camp of the Gross Rosen concentration camp in Poland to the Theresienstadt camp in Czechoslovakia. In an effort meant to cover up their crimes and prevent prisoners from falling into enemy hands, Nazi officials evacuated prisoners from camp to camp in what became known as death marches. | 6/3/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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25 |
Esther Starobin: Fate of Family that Remained in Germany | Esther Starobin and her three sisters left Germany for Great Britain in 1939 as part of a special rescue of Jewish children known as the Kindertransport or children’s transport. In this episode, Esther discusses how she learned the fate of her parents and brother who remained in Germany after she and her sisters had left. | 6/2/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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26 |
Manya Friedman: Death March to Ravensbrück | Manya Friedman discusses her evacuation from Gleiwitz, a sub-camp 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. | 5/27/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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27 |
Gerald Liebenau: Memories of Kristallnacht | In today’s episode Gerald Liebenau discusses his memories of Kristallnacht, also known as the “Night of Broken Glass.” On November 9-10, 1938 a wave of violent anti-Jewish pogroms erupted around Germany, leaving Jewish owned businesses and synagogues plundered and destroyed. | 5/26/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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28 |
Freddie Traum: Evacuated to England | Freddie Traum discusses life as a refugee in Great Britain during World War II. Freddie and his sister were sent from their home in Austria, to England as part of the Kindertransport, or special children’s transport that brought thousands of refugee Jewish children to Great Britain from Nazi Germany between 1938 and 1940. Freddie initially lived with a family in London, but was evacuated to the countryside, along with other Londoners, when Great Britain declared war on Germany in September of 1939. | 5/20/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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29 |
Charlene Schiff: A Daughter's Separation from her Mother | 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 and spent the remainder of the war looking for her mother and hiding for her life in the forests | 5/19/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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30 |
Gideon Frieder: Safe Harbor Among a Slovak Family | Gideon discusses the time he spent hiding with a Catholic Slovak family. After his mother and sister perished in a German attack at Banska Bystrica, Gideon was rescued by the Slovak partisans and placed with the Strycharszyk family, who went to great lengths to hide and protect Gideon. | 5/13/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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31 |
Nesse Godin: A Day in the Siauliai Ghetto | Nesse Godin discusses a day in the ghetto in Siauliai, Lithuania. On November 5, 1943, Nesse’s father along with others were rounded up and deported from the ghetto. Nesse never saw her father again. | 5/12/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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32 |
Inge Katzenstein: Refuge In Kenya | Inge Katzenstein discusses fleeing Nazi Germany in 1939 and finding refuge along with her family in Kenya, where they remained during the war, thereby escaping the Holocaust. | 5/6/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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33 |
Martin Weiss: Selection at Auschwitz | Martin Weiss discusses his deportation in May of 1944 from the ghetto in Munkacs, then part of Hungary, and his arrival at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi killing center. | 5/5/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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34 |
Leon Merrick: Evacuation and Arrival at Buchenwald | In December 1944, as the Soviet Army approached the slave labor camp in Poland where Leon was imprisoned, the Germans evacuated Leon to the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany. Leon shares his recollections of the evacuation and his first day in Buchenwald. | 4/29/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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35 |
Marcel Drimer: Escaping the "Concert of Death" | Marcel Drimer discusses narrowly escaping an "aktion" in Drohobycz, Poland. Marcel, his sister, and mother hid in a wheat field while a German “aktion” or a violent operation against Jewish civilians occurred in their town in August 1942. | 4/15/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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36 |
Herman Taube: Writing Poetry Before the Holocaust | Herman Taube discusses his love of poetry and how as a young boy living in Lodz, Poland before World War II, he began writing poetry. Herman continued his love of poetry throughout his life and experiences and still writes today. | 4/14/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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37 |
Rabbi Jacob G. Wiener: Arrest on Kristallnacht | Rabbi Jacob G. Wiener discusses his experience on Kristallnacht, known as the “Night of Broken Glass”, on November 9-10, 1938. Rabbi Wiener was arrested and his mother was murdered on this night of violent anti-Jewish pogroms across Germany. | 3/25/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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38 |
Halina Peabody: Living Under a False Identity | Halina Peabody discusses living in Jaroslaw, Poland under false papers identifying her as a Catholic. A local woman took Halina, her mother and sister in and gave them a place to live, while never suspecting that they were a Jewish family hiding as Catholics. | 3/18/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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39 |
Erika Eckstut: A Young Girl's Experience in the Ghetto | Erika Eckstut discusses the difficulties and dangers of life in the Czernowitz ghetto in what was then Romania (but today is western Ukraine). Erika was an adventurous teenager and her father went to great lengths to protect her and maintain her education. | 3/4/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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40 |
Leon Merrick: Importance of Work in the Lodz Ghetto | Leon Merrick discusses the importance and difficulties of work in the Lodz ghetto. Working in the ghetto post office, his job of delivering the mail became all the more difficult over time as Nazis deportations to the extermination camps increased; often times Leon was given the task of delivering notices for deportation. | 7/1/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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41 |
Louise Lawrence-Israels: A Family’s Efforts to Create a “Normal Life” while in Hiding | Louise Lawrence-Israels discusses memories from her early childhood spent hiding in Amsterdam. In 1942, 6 month old Louise and her family went into hiding in the 4th floor of a row house where they remained until the end of the war in 1945. | 6/25/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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42 |
Helen Goldkind: Arrival at Auschwitz | In this episode Helen Goldkind discusses her deportation and arrival at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi killing center. | 6/17/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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43 |
Jacqueline Mendels Birn: Flight from Paris | Jacqueline Mendels Birn discusses her family’s flight in July 1942 from German-occupied Paris to the southern “free” French zone known as Vichy. | 6/10/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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44 |
Helen Luksenburg: Survival in the Camps | Helen Luksenburg discusses daily life, spiritual resistance and forced labor in Gleiwitz, a subcamp of the Auschwitz concentration camp. | 6/3/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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45 |
Martin Weiss: Reflections on Liberation | Martin Weiss discusses his liberation from Gunskirchen, a subcamp of Mauthausen, in 1945 and the days immediately following. | 5/7/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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46 |
Fritz Gluckstein: Protest at Rosenstrasse | Fritz Gluckstein discusses multiple close calls with the Nazis in Berlin, his detainment at a Gestapo holding site at Rosenstrasse 2-4, and the subsequent public demonstration which brought about his release. In what has become known as the Rosenstrasse Protest, a group of non-Jewish Germans defied the Third Reich and saved their Jewish spouses and "Mischling" children from deportation through a weeklong, non-violent demonstration. | 3/26/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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47 |
Fanny Aizenberg: A Mother’s Agonizing Decision | Fanny Aizenberg discusses life for Belgian Jews after the German invasion in May, 1940. Fanny’s husband headed the call of the Royal Air Force asking for Belgian volunteers while Fanny took care of their young daughter in Belgium. | 3/19/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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48 |
Halina Peabody: Hiding in Plain Sight | Halina Peabody discusses her mother’s decision to go into hiding as a family following the German invasion of Poland in 1939. Halina spent the war in Poland living under false papers identifying her as a Catholic. | 3/12/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 48 Episodes |
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