Comparing Holocaust Testimonies

I have chosen Holocaust survivors Bella Zgnilek and George Gottlieb to analyze and discuss their experiences, and recollection during the time both were in concentration camps. Bella Zgnilek found herself doing various jobs throughout the concentration camp. Bella spoke German and knew how to type in which she believed that her education, and skills were the main the reasons why they kept her alive. In addition, she left to France with seven other women, and has been there ever since. George Gottlieb was originally from Hungary in which he describes an emotional memory of seeing his mother during the concentration camp. Nonetheless, his testimony did not go into great detail about the holocaust.

The reason I have chosen these two testimonies is because I wanted to get a man and a woman’s prospectives on their experiences within the concentration camp. Also, in class we touched on the ideology of memory, and how it changes throughout time. I also analyzed how both of the stories clarity, and accuracy of each story.

Throughout Bella’s testimony she touches the constant hardship of her various tasks throughout the concentration camp. Nonetheless, I believe Bella mainly focused on her “working experience.” She went into concise detail on how showed worked fourteen hours, and was then sent to the next job. Bella did speak about her family, but it was not the main focus. On the other hand, George Gottlieb explains a particular event in his experience within the concentration camp. George’s testimony was very detailed, and spoken with such passion and emotion compared to Bella’s experience. Throughout Bella’s testimony I had noticed that the interviewer (Boder) seem as if he were asking the questions in a forceful way. While in George Gottlieb’s testimony seem not to be as much of a structured testimony. Overall, both testimonies share the pain and anguish of the holocaust. What I find interesting is that both George and Bella are now viewed as “survivors” of the same struggle. Both survivors have place themselves in history.