Loss of Identity at Auschwitz-Birkenau

In this video, Mania Kay describes her first hours at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Mania was tattooed, had her head shaved, and was forced to shower in front of SS guards. Source: Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre, 1994

Transcript: 

[00:00-00:07]

Video begins with inter-title in white text on black screen while instrumental music plays and fades into the next frame: In August 1943, the Germans liquidated the Sosnowiec ghetto. Mania Kay was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and separated from her family upon arrival.

 

[00:08-02:30]

Cut to Holocaust survivor Mania Kay, sitting in front of a black background, and looking to the right of the camera. The camera shows her face and shoulders as she speaks during an interview conducted in Toronto in 1994.

>> Mania Kay: And then we…

 

[00:11-00:17]

The name “Mania Kay” and the location, “Kitchener”, appear in white text above Mania's right shoulder.

>> …started to walk towards the camp. We walked into a sauna. And we were again surrounded by the SS guards, with dogs. In the SS there were women. They were vicious. They were animals in human bodies. And we had to undress, and they took away all our possessions, whatever we had. And my hair was shaved. I was tattooed. And then, we had to shower. And the SS was standing around taking pictures, and they had a wonderful time looking at us and making fun of us. And we were given prisoners' clothing. When I walked out from that sauna, I didn't know who I was. I walked in with people I knew. We did not recognise each other. It was something I am not able to describe, the feeling, the emptiness. The loss in only a few hours. I was surrounded by people I loved. And suddenly, I was all alone and I didn't know who I was. I didn't recognise myself.

 

[02:31-02:40]
Music plays for the remainder of the video. Three credit pages appear in white text on black screen: Interview conducted by Mark Flumerfelt, Holocaust Documentation Project, Toronto, 1994, Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre

Directing: Helgi Piccinin; Editing and Colorization: Michaël Gravel, Helgi Piccinin; Audio Mix and Original Music: Pierre-Luc Lecours. [Logo for Chaire de recherche du Canada en patrimoine ethnologique]

Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre, copyright 2017.

 

--

End of transcript.

Click and share!

Google+