Majerczyk, Israël

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Description de l'interview extraite du site US Fortunoff / Biographie à venir

Israël Majerczyk was born in Mannheim, Germany in 1921. He recounts his family's move to Brussels in 1922; moving to Antwerp; his father's bankruptcy in 1930; being supported by his fourteen year-old brother; working as a diamond cutter; German invasion; working with a German refugee (his future wife) smuggling Jews to Belgium; marriage; arrest; incarceration in Antwerp, then Malines; an encounter with Mala Zimetbaum; choosing to remain with his wife when he could have left; his deportation to Laurahütte; a Jewish funeral when the first prisoner died, but none thereafter; transfer to Sakrau; not escaping in order to remain with his brother-in-law; transfer to Szopienice; slave labor laying rails; receiving food from British POWs in the Palestine Brigade; transfer to Auschwitz/Birkenau, then Warsaw; clearing rubble from the ghetto; Greek prisoners baking matzos on Passover; finding diamonds which provided medical attention when he was ill, extra food, a job as the kapos's secretary, and help for many other prisoners; transfer to Dachau, then Kaufering; a death march; abandonment by the guards; repatriation; and reunion with his wife. Mr. M. notes many details about fellow-prisoners and camp life. He discusses his continuing nightmares.

(Copyright: Fortunoff Video Archives for Holocaust Testimonies - Yale)

Ressources

Fiche interview

Code interview : YA/FA/021
Date interview : 02/12 /1992
Lieu interview : Centre Audiovisuel de l’Université Libre de Bruxelles
Durée interview : 3h11
Langue interview : Français
Interviewers : Yannis Thanassekos et Claire Paulus
Cameraman : Olivier Van Wassenhove
Consultation : Autorisée
Indexation thématique : oui
Séquençage interview : non