joelisrael21 - Holocaust Survivors

Inside the Gas Chambers: Eight Months in the Sonderkommando of Auschwitz

Name: Shlomo

Country of Origin : Greece

Camps : Auschwitz

Shlomo Venezia’s memoir offers a rare, first-hand account of life inside Auschwitz as a member of the Sonderkommando, the group of Jewish prisoners forced to handle the bodies of gas chamber victims. Born into a poor Jewish-Italian family in Thessaloniki, Greece, Venezia was deported to Auschwitz after the German occupation, where his mother and sisters were killed upon arrival. Unaware of the role he was accepting, he became part of the Sonderkommando in exchange for extra food, and was thrust into the heart of the Nazi extermination system. His account describes the horrifying daily tasks, the brutality of figures like Otto Moll, and the desperate acts of resistance, including the 1944 revolt. Although most Sonderkommando were eventually murdered to keep their knowledge secret, Venezia survived and later shared his story. His testimony stands as a powerful witness to the atrocities committed and the resilience of those forced to endure them.

Imi: A Lifetime in the Days of Family Mandel

Name: Manny

Country of Origin : Budapest

Camps : Bergen-Belsen

The story of “Kasztner’s Train” recounts the daring effort led by Rudolf Kasztner to rescue 1,676 Jews from Nazi-occupied Hungary during the Holocaust. As Hungary’s Jews faced increasing danger following the Nazi occupation in 1944, Kasztner negotiated with Adolf Eichmann to allow a select group to escape in exchange for money. Among the passengers was eight-year-old Imi (Manny) Mandel, whose journey from Budapest to Bergen-Belsen and eventually to Switzerland highlights both the risks and hopes of the time. Though Kasztner’s actions remain controversial—seen by some as heroic and by others as betrayal—the train offered a rare path to survival. Mandel’s later life in Israel and the U.S. reflects resilience and the lasting legacy of Holocaust survivors. His personal story, intertwined with broader historical figures and events, offers a poignant narrative of endurance, loss, and renewal.

I, Pierre Seel, Deported Homosexual: A Memoir of Nazi Terror

Name: Pierre

Country of Origin : France

Camps : Vorbruck-Schirmeck

On a fateful day in May 1941, in Nazi-occupied Strasbourg, 17-year-old Pierre Seel was summoned by the Gestapo. This was the beginning of his journey through the horrors of a concentration camp. For nearly 40 years, Seel kept this secret in order to hide his homosexuality. Eventually, he decided to speak out, bearing witness to an aspect of the Holocaust rarely seen. This edition, with a new foreword from gay-literature historian Gregory Woods, is an extraordinary firsthand account of the Nazi roundup and the deportation of homosexuals.

I Will Bear Witness 1942-1945: A Diary of the Nazi Years

Name: Victor

Country of Origin : Germany

Camps : Germany

This volume chronicles Victor Klemperer’s harrowing experiences as a Jew in Nazi Germany from 1942 to 1945, during the height of the Holocaust. Living in Dresden, he endures forced labor, public humiliation, and the constant threat of deportation, narrowly surviving due to his marriage to an Aryan woman. As the Nazis begin targeting even Jews in mixed marriages, Klemperer’s fate seems sealed—until the massive Allied bombing of Dresden in February 1945 provides a narrow chance for escape. He and his wife survive the destruction and eventually reach the Allied lines. The memoir’s final passages reveal the shocking postwar denial and amnesia of ordinary Germans who claim ignorance of Jewish persecution. Klemperer’s diary remains a powerful and detailed testimony of life under totalitarianism.

I was a Doctor in Auschwitz

Name: Gisella

Country of Origin : Poland

Camps : Auschwitz

Gisella Perl’s memoir offers a brutally honest and deeply emotional account of women’s struggle to survive Auschwitz, making it one of the earliest and most powerful Holocaust testimonies by a female survivor. She recounts her life before, during, and after the camps, shedding light on the gendered atrocities faced by Jewish women under Nazi rule. Perl’s narrative is notable for its vivid depictions of horror, including her forced work with Dr. Josef Mengele, where she secretly used her position to save fellow prisoners. Her memoir also stands out for addressing taboo topics like abortion and infanticide, which were long excluded from Holocaust narratives. Additionally, she includes rare insights into Roma victims and female Nazi personnel. This newly republished edition secures her testimony’s vital place in Holocaust memory and education.

I Survived: My Name is Yitzkhak

Name: Yitzhak

Country of Origin : Poland

Camps : Russian Army

Survived: My Name Is Yitzkhak tells the powerful true story of Yitzkhak (Isadore) Neiman, a Jewish man from rural Poland who survived the Holocaust. Born in 1912, Neiman’s peaceful village life was shattered when the Nazis invaded in 1941, leading to the death of nearly his entire family. His survival came through conscription into the Russian Army, followed by years of hardship, including time in a Soviet labor camp. In interviews conducted in the 1970s, Neiman recounts his harrowing journey across borders and through war-torn Europe. His story highlights the resilience and courage of ordinary people during extraordinary times. This account serves as a vital contribution to Holocaust and World War II oral history.