Archive
The Fortunoff Archive’s collection consists of over 4,400 testimonies of Holocaust survivors, witnesses and liberators. Learn how to search the collection for materials relevant to your research. Includes step by step instructions on how to register in Aviary and access the collection. Search the Archive
Fellowships
The Fortunoff Archive actively encourages supports scholarship with the collection through its fellowship program. The archive offers several fellowships including a two-year fellowship for a postdoctoral scholar, as well as fellowships for doctoral candidates and senior scholars. Learn More
Access Sites
The Fortunoff Archive makes its collection available at dozens of access sites around the globe. Access Sites are generally institutions of higher learning, museums, and memorial sites. There is no cost to become an access site. Locate an Access Site
From the Archive
Songs From Testimonies
Episode 5: Tuchi Nad Budyschem Vstali
A look at the song "Tuchi Nad Budyschem Vstali," from Songs From Testimonies, including a clip of the survivor Liubov' K., a performance of the Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble, and analysis by Dr. Sarah Garibova, Former Fortunoff Video Archive Hartman Fellow. WatchSongs From Testimonies
Episode 4: In Dem Kleinem Dorf
A look at the song "In Dem Kleinem Dorf," from Songs From Testimonies, including a clip of the survivor Liubov' K., a performance of the Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble, and analysis by Dr. Sarah Garibova, Former Fortunoff Video Archive Hartman Fellow. WatchPodcast
SE02E06: Esther Schwartzman
As Polish Jews fled across the border into Hungary bearing stories of Nazi atrocities, Esther Schwartzman’s family and community didn’t believe that such things could happen to them. Then in early 1944, everything changed. ListenSongs From Testimonies
Episode 3: Trayb Di Khvalyes
A look at "Trayb Di Khvalyes" from Songs From Testimonies. Listen to a clip of survivor Jack M., a performance by the Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble & Sasha Lurje, and commentary by D. Zisl Slepovitch and Eléonore Biezunski, Associate Sound Archivist, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. WatchPodcast
SE02E05: Abram Merczynski
When Abram Merczynski’s brother organized an orchestra in the Lodz ghetto, Abram promised himself that if he survived the war, he’d learn to play the violin. He lived—and kept his promise. ListenSongs From Testimonies
Episode 2: Kadima
A look at the song "Kadima," from Songs From Testimonies, including a clip of the survivor Itzchak S., a performance of the Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble, and analysis by William Lee Frost Professor of Jewish History at Harvard, Derek Penslar. WatchPodcast
SE02E04: Helen Jonas
Deported to the Plaszów concentration camp, Helen Jonas faced almost certain death. Instead, she was chosen by Amon Göth—the camp’s notorious, brutal commandant—to be his servant. ListenEdited Program
The Last Time I Saw Them
Five Holocaust survivors describe the terror of being separated from their parents in this short documentary that draws on recorded testimonies from the Fortunoff Video Archive, historic images, and family photographs. WatchSongs From Testimonies
Episode 1: Walc François
A look at the song "Walc François," from Songs From Testimonies, including a clip of the survivor Peretz H., a performance of the Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble, and analysis by author Krzysztof Czyżewski. WatchPodcast
SE02E03: Annelies Herz
Annelies Herz saw that fellow Jewish forced laborers were disappearing. To survive, she and her twin sister went underground. ListenEdited Program
Frances B. and Sylvia G. excerpt from The Last Time I Saw Them
Frances and Sylvia, sisters born in Velky Berezeny, Czechoslovakia, in 1924 and 1928 respectively were separated from their parents at Auschwitz. WatchPodcast
SE02E02: Isaac Zieman
Isaac Zieman was a passionate young Zionist with plans to make a life in Palestine. ListenEdited Program
Fred M. excerpt from The Last Time I Saw Them
Fred, born in Berlin, Germany, in 1927. He was separated from his parents when he was sent to the Netherlands on a Kindertransport. WatchEdited Program
Anita S. excerpt from The Last Time I Saw Them
Anita, born in Brno, Czechoslovakia in 1930, was separated from her mother at Auschwitz. WatchEdited Program
Heda K. excerpt from The Last Time I Saw Them
Heda, born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1919, was separated from her mother at Auschwitz. WatchPodcast
SE02E01: Sally Frishberg
High school teacher Sally Frishberg used her childhood experience of being hidden for two years with her family in a Polish farmer’s attic to create one of the first public high school classes on the history of the Holocaust. ListenSongs from Testimonies
Doina — Badkhen’s Song
Recounted in Jack M.'s testimony (HVT-1555). The composition opens with the doina (a free-time improvisatory piece) ListenSongs from Testimonies
In the Small Village of Smiltschenzi
The song, recounted in Liubov's testimony, conveys the suffering of Jewish mothers separated from their children. ListenEdited Program
Rachel G. Edited Testimony
A child survivor from Brussels, Belgium, relates her wartime experiences. WatchEdited Program
Baruch G. Edited Testimony
A survivor from Mlawa, Poland, Rabbi G. chronicles the destruction of his closely knit extended family and his experiences in numerous concentration and slave labor camps. Watch
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Online Concert: Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble & Sasha Lurje Perform Songs From Testimonies, Volume 2
Join the Yale Institute for Sacred Music, the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale, and the Fortunoff Video Archive for an online performance of songs from the Archive’s upcoming album Shray Hertsele Shray: Songs from Testimonies in the Fortunoff Video Archive, Volume Two.
The second volume in this ongoing ethnomusicological project contains widely diverse compositions in multiple languages drawn from songs sung by survivors in their videotestimonies. Collectively, these songs provide a multidimensional image of the lives of Holocaust survivors and the multiple identities they carried as Jews by faith and roots, and as European citizens.
Join us to hear [...]
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