More than 70 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.
This podcast series features excerpts from 48 interviews with Holocaust survivors conducted at the Museum as part of our First Person public program. Listen to these interview excerpts below. You can also watch video recordings of interviews from our First Person seasons here.
First Person is made possible by generous support from the Louis Franklin Smith Foundation with additional funding from the Arlene and Daniel Fisher Foundation.
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Helen (Lebowitz) Goldkind: A Grandfather’s Humiliation
July 28, 2009
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. -
Helen Goldkind: Arrival at Auschwitz
June 17, 2008
JUNE 17, 2008 Helen Goldkind discusses her deportation and arrival at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi killing center. -
Helen Luksenburg: Forming a Friendship in Gleiwitz
June 23, 2009
Helen Luksenburg discusses forming a close friendship with Welek, now William Luksenburg, a fellow prisoner in Gleiwitz, a subcamp of the Auschwitz concentration camp. -
Helen Luksenburg: Survival in the Camps
June 3, 2008
Helen Luksenburg discusses daily life, spiritual resistance, and forced labor in Gleiwitz, a subcamp of the Auschwitz concentration camp. -
Henry Greenbaum: Attempting Escape from a Slave Labor Camp
August 26, 2009
Henry Greenbaum discusses his attempt to escape from a slave labor camp near Starahowice, Poland, with his sister Faige and a Jewish policeman in July 1944. -
Herman Taube: Writing Poetry before the Holocaust
April 14, 2009
Herman Taube discusses his love of poetry and how he began writing it as a young boy in Lodz, Poland, before World War II. -
Holocaust Survivors’ Reflections and Hopes for the Future
September 29, 2010
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. -
Inge Katzenstein: Refuge In Kenya
May 6, 2009
Inge Katzenstein discusses fleeing Nazi Germany in 1939 and finding refuge along with her family in Kenya, where they remained during the war. -
Isak Danon: Attack on the Synagogue in Split
June 30, 2009
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. -
Jacqueline Mendels Birn: Flight from Paris
June 10, 2008
Jacqueline Mendels Birn discusses her family’s flight in July 1942 from German-occupied Paris to the southern “free” French zone known as Vichy.
