Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Regina Cohen - April 18, 1982

Contents

An interview with Regina Cohen, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Regina Cohen was born in Chust, Czechoslovakia in 1929. She was the fifth child of nine in a middle class Orthodox family. She and her family were sent to the ghetto in Chust and then were deported to Auschwitz in spring 1944. After a few months, she was selected to work in a Siemens factory near Nuremberg. She was then moved to a factory in Nuremberg where the American Army liberated her. Regina went home to Chust to find her only surviving family, one sister and one brother. Regina and her sister moved out of Russian occupied Czechoslovakia into a DP camp in Heidenheim, Germany where they stayed for three years. Regina continued her education in the DP camp and learned English in order to move to Montreal to be a mother's helper for a Jewish family. She met her husband in Windsor and soon moved to Detroit to start her family.

  1. Introduction
  2. Education
  3. Family
  4. Religious Life
  5. Typical Shabbos
  6. Involvement in Zionist Youth Groups
  7. Zionism at Home
  8. Dreams for Further Education
  9. Life at Beginning of War
  10. Life During Hungarian Occupation
  11. Anti-Semitism
  12. Knowledge of Holocaust
  13. Father's Service in Hungarian Army
  14. Gentiles Warn Jews of Danger
  15. Surviving at Home
  16. The Hungarian Ransom
  17. Setup of Ghettos
  18. Description of Ghetto
  19. Living Conditions in Ghetto [interruption in interview]
  20. Food in the Ghetto
  21. Help from Hungarian Grocer
  22. Experiencing Anti-Semitism
  23. Yellow Star
  24. Restrictions
  25. Recognizing Trouble
  26. Deportation to Ghetto
  27. Evacuation of Ghetto
  28. Arrival in Auschwitz
  29. Being Sorted
  30. Being Separated from Family
  31. Moved to Birkenau
  32. Being Deloused
  33. Being Assigned a Barrack
  34. Seeing Brother and Father in Camp
  35. Description of Daily Routine
  36. Description of Daily Routine II
  37. Job in Camp
  38. Description of Camp
  39. Description of Camp II
  40. Job in Camp II
  41. Food in Camp
  42. Disliking Camp Food
  43. Getting Bread from Brother
  44. Punishments in Camp
  45. Escaping Selection
  46. Escaping Selection II
  47. Escaping Selection III
  48. Religion in Camp
  49. Escaping Selection Again
  50. Being Protected from Selection
  51. Camp Gossip
  52. Giving Up Hope
  53. Volunteering to Change Camps [interruption of interview]
  54. Shoes in Camp
  55. Lying About Age to Survive
  56. Transport to Nuremberg
  57. Description of New Camp
  58. Treatment in Camp
  59. Stealing in Camp
  60. Life at New Camp
  61. Working at a Siemens Factory
  62. Civilians in Camps
  63. Moving into the Nuremberg
  64. Being Abused by the SS
  65. Life at Nuremberg Factory
  66. Disappearance of SS Guards
  67. Liberation
  68. Arrival of the American Army
  69. After Liberation [interruption in interview]
  70. Waiting to Go Home
  71. Traveling Home
  72. Back in Chust
  73. Escaping Russian Occupation
  74. Living In German DP Camp
  75. Post-War Anti-Semitism
  76. Education after the War
  77. Going to Canada
  78. Starting a Family
  79. Sharing Story
  80. Experiencing Pain
  81. Fate of Family
  82. Reason for Surviving
  83. Reason for Surviving II
  84. Memories
  85. Attitudes Toward Germans
  86. Conclusion

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