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Irene Opdyke oral history interview
OHP.8626
OHP.8626
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Title: Irene Opdyke oral history interview
Identifier/Call Number: OHP.8626
Contributing Institution:
Tauber Holocaust Library
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
0.4 Linear feet
comprising one audio disc, three videotapes with a combined total running time of 4:51, and one transcript of 54 pages
Date: 1993 May 5
Abstract: This collection comprises three interviews with Irene Opdyke. The first interview comprises one sound disc and was conducted
by the Holocaust Oral History Project on January 12, 1992; the second interview comprises one videotape with accompanying
transcript and was conducted by the Holocaust Oral History Project on May 5, 1993; the third interview comprises two videotapes
and was conducted by the Holocaust Oral History Project on March 18, 1994.
Creator:
Opdyke, Irene
Creator:
Bendayan, Sandra
Creator:
Grant, John
Creator:
Lee, Donna Shaffer
Creator:
Sosna, Laurie
This collection comprises three interviews with Irene Opdyke. The first interview comprises one sound disc and was conducted
by an unknown interviewer on behalf of the Holocaust Oral History Project on January 12, 1992; the second interview comprises
one videotape with accompanying transcript and was conducted by Sandra Bendayan on behalf of the Holocaust Oral History Project
on May 5, 1993; the third interview comprises two videotapes and was conducted by Sandra Bendayan on behalf of the Holocaust
Oral History Project on March 18, 1994. Irene Opdyke was a rescuer and is one of the Righteous Among the Nations.
The interview describes Ms. Opdyke's childhood in Kozienice, Poland; her service as a nurse in the Polish Army; and her experiences
in a forced labor camp near Radom, Poland. She describes her work as a housekeeper for a German Army major in Radom and Tarnapol
and the mass killings she witnessed there. She describes in detail her experiences hiding Jewish people in the major's house,
the raids by the Gestapo, and the major's discovery of the people in hiding. She describes the experience of being a woman
in wartime. She discusses joining the partisans near Radom in 1944, her arrest by and escape from the Soviets in 1945, and
her experiences in a displaced persons camp in Germany between 1946 and 1949. She describes emigration to the United States
in 1949, her life after the war, her family, and her experiences speaking to the public about her wartime activities.
Conditions Governing Access note
There are no restrictions to access for this collection.
There are no restrictions to use for this collection.
Existence and Location of Copies note
Master copies of the oral history interview are located at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C.
Irene Opdyke oral history interview - OHP.8626, Tauber Holocaust Library - JFCS Holocaust Center, San Francisco, California
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Forced labor -- Poland
Kozienice (Poland)
Military nursing -- Poland
Poland -- History -- Occupation, 1939-1945
Radom (Województwo Mazowieckie, Poland)
Refugee camps -- Germany
Righteous Gentiles in the Holocaust.
Ternopil (Ukraine)
United States -- Emigration and immigration
World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities -- Poland
World War, 1939-1945 -- Jews -- Rescue -- Poland
World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives
World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Poland