Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Alexander Karp - September 14, 1995

Contents

Alexander Karp was born in Baktaloranthaza, a small town in Hungary. In 1944, when he was about 19 years old, his family was moved into the Kisvarda ghetto. His immediate family consisted of his mother and 15 year old sister, his father had been taken prisoner in Russia in 1942 and the family did not know if he was alive or dead. The family was transported to Birkenau where Mr. Karp was separated from his mother and sister. He and an uncle spent about 4 months in Birkenau. Claiming to be tool and die makers, they were sent to several different camps eventually ending up at an underground airplane factory in the Kochendorf area. In March 1945, they were evacuated to Dachau and then to Mittenwald, a town close to the Austrian border, where they were liberated. In August 1945 he was reunited with his father.

  1. Life Before the War in Baktalórántháza
  2. Religious Life
  3. Family
  4. Contact with Non-Jews Before the War
  5. Politics
  6. Political Changes in the 1930s
  7. Political Discussions at Home
  8. Extended Family
  9. Ghetto in Kisvarda
  10. Conditions in the Ghetto
  11. Transport to Birkenau
  12. Shavuot
  13. Arriving at Birkenau
  14. Conditions in Birkenau
  15. Work Assignment
  16. Kapo's Assistant
  17. Incidents Thiel
  18. Underground Airplane Factory in Kochendorf
  19. Picking Apples
  20. Cyclone Fence
  21. Executions in Kochedorf
  22. Trying to Get Extra Food
  23. Deteriorating Conditions in Kochendorf
  24. Evacuation from Kochendorf
  25. Dachau
  26. Liberation
  27. Travels Home
  28. Reunion with Father
  29. Interaction with Non-Jews after the War
  30. Reaction to Experience

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