Survivors and Rescuers

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1922: Holocaust survivor Zdenka Novak (right),
who was born in Zagreb and now lives in Israel,
and her maternal grandmother, "Grosa" (left).
(Zdenka was born on 27 November 1919.)

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• Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies: Part of the Manuscripts and Archives of the Sterling Memorial Library of Yale University, the Fortunoff archive is a "collection of over 3,500 videotaped interviews with witnesses and survivors of the Holocaust." The Web site includes excerpts from testimonies; information for visitors to the archive; a history of the archive; and, information on affiliated projects.



• Holocaust Survivor Oral History Project: Maintained by the University of Michigan at Dearborn, this site contains samples from transcripts and audio recordings of Holocaust survivor testimony. "Dr. Sid Bolkosky, Professor of History..., has interviewed over 150 survivors. His interviews with these survivors are recorded on about 330 hours of audio tapes and 60 hours of video tapes. These tapes are being transcribed and entered into the online catalog of the Mardigian Library and OCLC."



• Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation: This official Web site for Stephen Spielberg's Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation briefly describes the Foundation's work and provides contact information (via postal mail or the Foundation's toll-free phone number). In addition, visitors can view the Foundation's regularly updated production status report (listing the total number of interviews conducted and the countries in which they occurred) and learn about the Foundation's documentary Survivors of the Holocaust.



• AMCHA Home Page: Located in Jerusalem, AMCHA <amcha@amcha.org> is the "National Israeli Center for Psychosocial Support of Survivors of the Holocaust and the Second Generation." AMCHA's Web site includes electronic versions of the Center's annual reports, as well as selected issues of the Center's AMCHA Link newsletter. "AMCHA is there to help, to understand, to listen." AMCHA provides the "opportunity for survivors and their families to unburden their hearts and know that they are not alone."



• Louisiana Holocaust Survivors' Home Page: Louisiana Holocaust survivors share their stories in interviews conducted by Plater Robinson, the Holocaust education specialist for the Southern Institute for Education and Research at Tulane University.

 
• When Heaven's Vault Cracked -- Zagreb Memories: Presented by Dani Novak, the son of Holocaust survivor, Zdenka Novak, this Web site is an electronic version of Zdenka Novak's memoirs, When Heaven's Vault Cracked: Zagreb Memories:
  

  ". . . I decided to write the story of my life, focusing on the Holocaust, something I had long been thinking about. I had hesitated for a long time and had no courage to do it. I knew that this would mean the opening of old wounds, the revival of painful feelings, the recalling of afflicting memories. Nevertheless, I considered it my duty to write these memoirs, to serve as a document for the coming generations, and as a warning to avoid a repetition of such tragedies.
  

  
  
  Mira, Zdenka's younger sister, who
  was murdered during the Holocaust.
  (Mira was born on 18 February 1923.)
  -- -- --
  Aleha ha-Shalom

  Although this book is based on personal accounts it reflects the common fate of Yugoslav Jews and is of significance to us all. Compared to other European countries, little has been written about the Holocaust in Yugoslavia, the country of my origin and I believe that we, the survivors, should bring more publicity to this period of human history. . . ."

  
  
• An Interview with Primo Levi: Created and maintained by composer Ari Frankel, this Web site is an interview with Primo Levi: "Primo Levi, born in Turin, Italy, in 1919, and trained as a chemist, was arrested during the Second World War as a member of the anti-Fascist resistance and deported to Auschwitz in 1944. His experience in the death camp and his subsequent travels through Eastern Europe were the subject of powerful memoirs, fiction and poetry. Levi died in Turin in April 1987."



• All Things Considered: Interview with Binjamin Wilkomirski: In this National Public Radio interview in RealAudio format, Holocaust survivor Binjamin Wilkomirski talks about his life and his autobiography, Fragments, "an account of his childhood experiences. The book has been translated into nine languages and has been published in eleven countries. As a very young child, Wilkomirski was taken to a Nazi concentration camp. He lived in barracks with other children. The language that he learned was a combination of the many languages to which he was exposed. He had no native tongue. He has no recollection of his mother . . . only of a woman he was brought to one day at the camp and was told was his mother."



• Ernest and Elisabeth Cassutto Memorial Page: George Cassutto created this Web page to honor his parents, Ernest and Elisabeth Cassutto, who are Holocaust survivors: "These pages are dedicated to my parents, who by their faith and determination to live, survived one of the greatest genocides in human memory. After they experienced the events described herein, these two courageous people told their story to the world for two reasons: to share with others the faith their tribulations had given birth to, and also to raise the consciousness of their fellow human beings so that events like the Holocaust should never happen again." (George Cassutto teaches social studies at North Hagerstown High School in Maryland.)



• David's Story: Sponsored by the Hall family, David's Story is the autobiography of Holocaust survivor David Katz. It is organized into the following sections: Prologue; Pre-war Days; The War; Deportation and Exile; The Ghetto; Concentration Camps; Forced Labor at Breslo, Finef Taichen; Gerlitz; Citau; Liberation; The Return Home; France and My New Life; My Wife, Rosa; Canada; United States; Epilogue; Sadistic Politik; Eichmann; and, Post-war Thoughts:
  
  

  ". . . I was liberated from a Nazi death camp on May 8, 1945. I looked like a walking skeleton. I want the world to relive some of my experiences; and experiences of millions of holy Jewish people who were murdered by the criminal Nazis. Mothers and children, fathers, grandfathers and grandmothers were tortured, shot and gassed to death. These were very bad times for the holy Jewish people. . . ."

• Ghetto Fighters' House -- Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Heritage Museum (Beit Lohamei Haghetaot): The Ghetto Fighters' House was "founded in 1949 by Holocaust survivors, ghetto fighters and partisans, who settled in the Western Galilee and set up Kibbutz Lochme Hagetaot on the main road from Acre to Naharia." At first, the Ghetto Fighters' House was primarily a documentation center; now, it is a museum, research institute, and education center.
  
  Individuals in the United States may be interested in visiting the Web site of The American Friends of The Ghetto Fighters' House, which is the American office of The Ghetto Fighters' House.



• Oswego -- The Safe Haven: This Web site presents the story of Oswego, a safe haven for Holocaust victims and refugees from Hitler's regime: "August 5, 1944, was a day of joy and apprehension for 982 passengers on a train pulling into Oswego, a small city in upstate New York on the shores of Lake Ontario northwest of Syracuse. The refugees were fleeing from 18 countries Hitler had overrun. Many had escaped from camps like Dachau. . . ." The site describes Safe Haven; tells its story; offers a gallery of photographs; and, more.



• Per Anger -- A Swedish Hero: Maintained and sponsored by the Hatikva Project in Stockhom, Sweden, this presentation was created "in honor of Per Anger and his great deeds during the darkest period in man's history." Per Johan Valentin Anger -- a colleague and friend of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg (see immediately below) -- was a member of the Swedish legation in Berlin and Budapest; in 1944, he "initiated Swedish provisional passports for threatened Jews in Budapest." This presentation offers several sections of information about Per Anger, including a short history of his life and career, and his search for Raoul Wallenberg after World War II.



• Raoul Wallenberg -- One Man Can Make a Difference: Sponsored by the Hatikva Project, this Web site is dedicated to Raoul Wallenberg and his work during the Holocaust to rescue thousands of Hungarian Jews. The site has five main sections: (1) Introduction; (2) Who Wallenberg Was; (3) Background to Wallenberg's Mission; (4) Wallenberg's Rescue Operation; and, (5) What Happened to Raoul Wallenberg? The site also includes the text of Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson's speech on 17 January 1995, the fiftieth anniversary of Raoul Wallenberg's arrest in Budapest.



• Holocaust Rescuers Bibliography: This bibliography, Rescuers During the Holocaust, lists works in English which discuss the lives and actions of rescuers (individuals and groups) during the Holocaust.




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Remember that it is easy to save human
lives. . . . In those times, one climbed to the
summit of humanity by simply
remaining human.

Elie Wiesel, THE COURAGE TO CARE (p. xi)

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• To Save a Life -- Stories of Jewish Rescue: Written and maintained by Ellen Land-Weber, this site is an unpublished book featuring personal narratives and photographs of people who saved Jews during the Holocaust: "In this book you will find true stories narrated by six rescuers accompanied by the narratives of nine people whom they rescued. Three stories take place in Holland; the others are set in Poland and Czechoslovakia." (Ellen Land-Weber teaches photography and digital imaging at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California.)



• Schindler's List -- The Story That Must Be Told: Created and maintained by fourteen-year-old Jeremy Hobbs, this Web site examines the film and book, Schindler's List, and provides information about Oskar Schindler and the Jews he saved.



• An Online Magazine for Post-Holocaust Issues: Created, maintained, and supervised by Holocaust survivor Alexander Kimel, this site has been recommended by the Jerusalem Post and The History Channel. The site offers many articles on a wide selection of topics; it opens with the evocation:

  Almighty God! Let the Ashes of the Children incinerated in Auschwitz, rivers of blood spilled in Babbi Yar or Majdanek, be a warning to mankind that violence is destructive, hatred is contagious, while man has an unlimited capacity for cruelty.

  The magazine includes editorials, feature articles, feedback and comments, previews of future topics, links to other sites; and, an extensive section of writings by Mr. Kimel, "Holocaust Understanding and Prevention."



• Beit Lohamei Haghetaot Yad LaYeled -- "Children of Unknown Identity": Beit Lohamei Haghetaot Yad LaYeled is "the Museum for the Children About the Jewish Child During the Holocaust" and is a new addition to the Ghetto Fighter's House in Western Galilee, Israel. This Web site is for the Museum's "Children of Unknown Identity" division, which tries "to uncover the past and true identity of the Jewish children who were born between 1936 and 1945 and were left orphans at the end of the war." The division has archival material from Israel and Poland -- and the Web site includes a listing of all of the orphanages and children's shelters active in Poland between 1945 and 1957 -- but the goal is to include data on orphans from other European countries besides Poland. (Information is available in English, Hebrew, Russian, French, and Polish.)
  
  
• Reviews -- All Rivers Run to the Sea: This review by Scott Sidel examines Elie Wiesel's memoirs All Rivers Run to the Sea, published by Alfred A. Knopf; another on-line review by Ron Hogan is also available. Wiesel, who survived Auschwitz and Buchenwald, is the author of over 30 books and the recipient of many honors, including the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the French Legion of Honor, and the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal; he teaches at Boston University.



• Thank You, People of America: Presented by Dani Novak, the son of Holocaust survivor, Zdenka Novak, and written by child survivor Miriam Steiner-Aviezer (Dani Novak's cousin), this brief memoir narrates a time in Miriam's life immediately after the end of World War II and describes the dramatic impact that the receipt of an anonymous package from America -- and a doll it contained -- had on her life.
  
  Miriam Steiner-Aviezer lives in Givatayim, Israel, and is the author of the book, The Soldier with the Golden Buttons, which presents a child's-eye view of the Holocaust. She also interviews Holocaust survivors for the Yad Vashem Archive. Miriam is married and has a daughter.



• Visas for Life -- The Remarkable Story of Chiune and Yukiko Sugihara: Created and maintained by Ron Greene, this site is an electronic version of the photographic exhibit first shown at the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. Eric Saul of San Francisco created the exhibit, with the cooperation of the Sugihara Family: The exhibit "is the story of a man and his wife who, when confronted with evil, obeyed the kindness of their hearts and conscience in defiance of the orders of an indifferent government. These people were Chiune and Yukiko Sugihara who, at the beginning of World War II, by an ultimate act of altruism and self-sacrifice, risked their careers, their livelihood and their future to save the lives of more than 6,000 Jews. This selfless act resulted in the second largest number of Jews rescued from the Nazis."



• Viktor-Frankl-Institut: Although this nonprofit organization is not directly related to the Holocaust, the Viktor-Frankl-Institut (Viktor Frankl Institute) in Vienna fosters the work of Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl and provides access "to authentic information about logotherapy and existential analysis." Other goals of the institute include cataloguing Frankl's private archives (manuscripts, letters, films, audio- and videotapes).



• The Art of Remembrance -- Simon Wiesenthal: This Web page provides information about the documentary film, The Art of Remembrance: Simon Wiesenthal, by Johanna Heer and Werner Schmiedel; the documentary "traces Wiesenthal's extraordinary life, from his childhood days in Galicia and his ordeals in Nazi ghettos and concentration camps. The film includes numerous interviews with Wiesenthal's colleagues, friends -- and enemies -- from a life spent tireless[ly], and often at personal risk, investigating and bringing to justice Nazi criminals."



• OhioOnline -- Remembering the Holocaust: Created and maintained by Robert Mihalek, this Web site recounts the experiences of Erich Hartmann, who escaped Nazi Germany with his family at the age sixteen 16, shortly before Kristallnacht, and became a soldier in the United States Army.
  
  

  . . . Fifty-five years later, Hartmann traveled back to the land where, between the Nazi rise to power in 1933 and the end of World War II in 1945, approximately 6 million Jews, homosexuals, Gypsies and handicapped persons were slaughtered. Hartmann, a photographer, set out to record the concentration camps as they appear today. "I realized that I had to do something about this time," Hartmann said. "I went to the camps to see what they said to me. . . ."

  The result of Hartman's travels is In the Camps, a book and two photographic exhibits.



• The Triumphant Spirit -- Survivors of the Holocaust: Created and maintained by The Triumphant Spirit Foundation and based on a book of portraits of Holocaust survivors by Nick Del Calzo, this Web site commemorates the lives of twenty-five Holocaust survivors: "The day will come when the last Holocaust witness will perish and these voices will be silenced forever," says Nick Del Calzo. "My hope is that, by capturing their portraits and their messages, they can continue to inspire future generations and continuously rekindle hope for a brighter tomorrow." The site also provides information about The Triumphant Spirit Project, which consists of Nick Del Calzo's book and a national portrait exhibition.



• Elizabeth Goldschläger -- A Story of Courage: Student Daniel A. Galron created this Web project to tell the story of his grandmother, Holocaust survivor Elizabeth Goldschläger. The presentation includes a glossary of Holocaust-related terms.



• I. Dobraszklanka Kufeld -- Search for Information on Golub-Dobrzyn: Holocaust survivor Frank Dobia -- who was liberated from Buchenwald on 11 April 1945 and is the sole survivor of the Dobraszklanka family -- is searching for information on Golub-Dobrzyn, Poland, from World War I through World War II. He particularly wants to document massacres which took place in Dobrzyn from Rosh Hashana (14 September 1939) until 11 November 1939: "In all the history of the Holocaust there is very little written about all the atrocities committed so early in the war in this particular area and I strongly feel that I have to record the cruel events that happened."

Images from Zdenka Novak's memoirs are used with permission.

Last Updated: 5 September 2005