Holocaust Survivor Describes Escape from Cattle Car
Kalman Perk tells of his escape from the Deportation Train. On the day
that the Nazis liquidated the Kovno ghetto, They took the Jews to
camps in Germany ( The Nazis escaped from the Red Army that was about
to liberate Kovno but were unable to let go of "their Jews").
Two Brothers Struggle to Survive the Holocaust
Uri Chanoch was 13 when he was forced to move with his family into the
Kovno ghetto. Recruited into the underground movement in order to
steal vital work permits, Uri was severely beaten by the Germans for
refusing to divulge the hiding place of his younger brother. With the
liquidation of the ghetto in July 1944, Uri and his family were
deported to Germany. Losing his mother, father and sister in the
Holocaust, Uri survived Dachau and Auschwitz. Escaping from a blown up
transport and hiding in the forest until liberation by American
soldiers, Uri was later reunited with his brother Dani, and the two
immigrated to Israel in 1946. Uri was recruited into the Palmach and
participated in the battles for Jerusalem, later becoming an officer
in the IDF. He was an active industrialist and is engaged in public
service.
For more information, click http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/remembrance/2006/chanoch.asp http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=o_PrWS51hmE
Holocaust Survivor Testimony: Chana Weismann
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hNF0QQhM2Sc
Chana Weismann was born in 1929 in Kovno, Lithuania to a family of two
children. In June 1941, German forces began bombing Kovno and Chana's
family fled in the direction of the Vilna Bridge. Discovering that the
bridge had been bombed, they had no other choice but to return to
Kovno.
On their way back to Kovno, the family members separated, in order to
draw less attention to themselves. Chana and her father were caught by
the Lithuanians and were taken to the Seventh Fort, a fortress in the
adjacent city. Chana was separated from her father, but soon after met
with her mother, who had arrived at the Seventh Fort after having
realized that her husband and daughter had been captured. A few days
later, Chana saw a group of men, her father among them, being led in
the direction of the killing pits. During the night, Chana heard the
echo of shots from the direction of the pits and understood
immediately that her father was no longer among the living.
A few days later, Chana and her mother were transferred to the Ninth
Fort where they were held for two days before being released along
with the other women and children. In 1941, Chana, along with her
mother, brother and their extended family were transferred to the
ghetto in the Slovodca neighborhood. In one of the actions in October
1943, Chana and her family were deported to Estonia, to a camp where
they suffered from freezing cold, extreme hunger, and extremely poor
sanitary conditions.
After half a year the family was transferred to the Kivioli labor
camp. During one of the actions in the camp Chana's mother was taken
away, along with many others, and was shot to death in the forest. A
few months later, Chana was deported with her brother to the Stutthof
camp in Germany. There, Chana managed to survive two children's
actions, the first time by escaping and the second time due
overcrowding of the crematorium. Following Stutthof, Chana was
transferred to several camps, of which the last was Bergen-Belsen,
where she remained until the camp was liberated in May 1945. Her
brother was sent from Stutthof camp to Steinberg camp, also ending up
at Bergen-Belsen, but died shortly before the camp was liberated.
In 1947, Chana immigrated to Israel. She is married and has two
children and three grandchildren.