Irving Altus - June 2, 1982
Contents
An audio interview with Irving Altus, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Bernie Kent. Mr. Altus was born in 1920, in Czekanów, Poland. Mr. Altus was the middle child in a family consisting of five children, his mother and father, all of whom perished in the Holocaust. Following the German invasion of Poland in 1939, the Germans arrested Mr. Altus and shipped him to various labor camps throughout Europe, including one in Königsberg, Germany. In 1942, Mr. Altus was shipped to Auschwitz-Birkenau and assigned to an external Labor Kommando approximately 50 miles from the main camp. In 1945, Mr. Altus was forced to march westward towards Germany, eventually coming to Theresienstadt, where he was liberated by the Soviets after one day. After the war, Mr. Altus returned briefly to his hometown and then relocated to Munich, Germany. In 1949, he emigrated to America with his wife and son.
- Introduction
- Pre-War Life
- Family
- Pre-War Anti-Semitism
- Pre-War Plans
- Czekanów
- Outbreak of War
- Jewish Refugees
- Lack of Leadership
- Thoughts of Leaving
- Conditions Under Germans
- Conditions Under Germans (Continued)
- Arrested by Germans
- Forced Labor
- Forced Labor (Continued)
- Transport to Auschwitz
- Conditions in Auschwitz
- Labor Kommando of Auschwitz
- Different Conditions
- Cement Factory
- The SS
- Mortality in Factory
- 1945
- March from Auschwitz
- Theresienstadt
- Liberation
- Disposition of Family
- Germany
- Immigration to America
- Relatives in Detroit
- Relatives in Detroit (Continued)
- Talking About Experiences
- Reflections on Experiences
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