Nathan Moncharsh oral history interviews, 1991 April 25

Printable guide [HTML]

Summary

Creators:
Moncharsh, Nathan, Ayres, Gene, Grant, John, Prozan, Sylvia, Rotenberg, Irene, and Thompson, Karen
Abstract:
This collection comprises five oral history interviews with Nathan Moncharsh. The first interview comprises one sound disc and was conducted by the Holocaust Oral History Project on February 21, 1988; the second interview comprises one videotape and was conducted by the Holocaust Oral History Project on March 21, 1991; the third interview comprises one videotape with accompanying transcript and was conducted by the Holocaust Oral History Project on April 25, 1991; the fourth interview comprises two videotapes and was conducted by the Holocaust Oral History Project on May 14, 1991; the fifth interview comprises one videotape and was conducted by the Holocaust Oral History Project on July 11, 1991.
Extent:
0.6 Linear feet comprising one sound disc, five videotapes with a total running time of 10:11, and one transcript of 72 pages
Language:
Preferred citation:

Nathan Moncharsh oral history interviews - OHP.3027, Tauber Holocaust Library, JFCS Holocaust Center, San Francisco, California

Background

Scope and content:

This collection comprises five oral history interviews with Nathan Moncharsh. The first interview comprises one sound disc and was conducted by Irene Rotenberg on behalf of the Holocaust Oral History Project on February 21, 1988; the second interview comprises one videotape and was conducted by Gene Ayres and Sylvia Prozan on behalf of the Holocaust Oral History Project on March 21, 1991; the third interview comprises one videotape with accompanying transcript and was conducted by Gene Ayres and Sylvia Prozan on behalf of the Holocaust Oral History Project on April 25, 1991; the fourth interview comprises two videotapes and was conducted by Gene Ayres and Sylvia Prozan on behalf of the Holocaust Oral History Project on May 14, 1991; the fifth interview comprises one videotape and was conducted by Gene Ayres and Sylvia Prozan on behalf of the Holocaust Oral History Project on July 11, 1991. Nathan Moncharsh is a Holocaust survivor.

The interviews describe Mr. Moncharsh's childhood in Chmielnik and Lodz, Poland; his experiences in Lodz ghetto beginning in December 1939; and the ways he and his family survived there. He describes many of the deportations, including liquidation of hospitals; the work he performed as a bricklayer building factories; the rations; observations of Chaim Rumkowski; and the continual influx of Jews from the west beginning in 1940. He discusses the deaths of family members from illness and starvation, his deportation on the final train from Lodz to Auschwitz in September 1944, and the transportation in cattle cars. He describes his experiences in Auschwitz, from the initial selection performed by Josef Mengele to the work he performed as a bricklayer as well as his responsibility for the soup pots. Mr. Moncharsh describes the changes in the camp that began in November 1944, the bombings, and the death march to Flossenburg in February 1945. He describes a subsequent death march to Dachau, liberation by the Americans in April 1945, and his health problems and malnourishment after liberation. He discusses his emigration to the United States in 1949 and his life in San Francisco after the war.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

There are no restrictions to access for this collection.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions to use for this collection.

Preferred citation:

Nathan Moncharsh oral history interviews - OHP.3027, Tauber Holocaust Library, JFCS Holocaust Center, San Francisco, California

Location of this collection:
JFCS Holocaust Center
2245 Post Street
San Francisco, CA 94115, US
Contact:
(415) 449-3717
HolocaustCenter@jfcs.org
Website