Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Paul Molnar - July 24, 2002

An interview with Paul Molnar, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Paul Molnar was born in 1929 in Rákospalota, a suburb of Budapest, Hungary. Following the outbreak of the war, Paul and his family came under increasing persecution by the pro-German Hungarian government. In 1944, his father was sent to a labor camp and in July Paul, along with his mother, brother and grandmother, were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. After arrival, Paul's mother, brother and grandmother were gassed. After a brief time in Auschwitz-Birkenau, Paul was sent to Buchenwald and then to Magdeburg where he worked at a factory run by I.G. Farben. He then returned briefly to Buchenwald and then was sent to another camp, Berga. In April 1945, Paul was evacuated from Berga and while marching to an unknown destination, he escaped and was liberated. Paul later immigrated to the United States.

Link to Portraits of Honor Project

1. Introduction
2. Religious Life
3. Family
4. Outbreak of War
5. Anti-Jewish Laws
6. 1944
7. Father Sent Away
8. Knowledge of Camps
9. Deportation to Auschwitz
10. Arrival at Birkenau
11. Conditions in Birkenau
12. Conditions in Birkenau II
13. Latrines
14. Fate of Family
15. Sent to Buchenwald
16. Magdeburg
17. Conditions in Magdeburg
18. Conditions in Magdeburg II
19. Conditions in Magdeburg III
20. Return to Buchenwald
21. Sexual Abuse
22. Berga
23. Prisoners in Berga
24. Evacuation From Berga
25. Liberation
26. America
27. Telling Children about Experiences
28. Reminders of Holocaust
29. Importance of Telling