Testimony of Avraham Paltiel, born in Amsterdam, 1918, regarding his experiences in the Vught and Auschwitz camps, and in forced labor camps in Germany

Testimony of Avraham Paltiel, born in Amsterdam, 1918, regarding his experiences in the Vught and Auschwitz camps, and in forced labor camps in Germany His father was a diamond merchant; move from Amsterdam to Hilversum, and back to Amsterdam, 1933; graduation from high school; joining training groups in Beverwijk and in Laag-Keppel, against his parents' wishes; marriage to Chana; unsuccessful attempts to hide, both on his own, and within the framework of the training groups; deportation of the training group to the Vught camp, April 1943; work with children; work with his wife in the Philips Kommando; deportation of the Philips Kommando (about 350-400 women, and 90 men) to Auschwitz, June 1944; letting him, and around 45 other men live, and work at digging anti-aircraft trenches for the camp until November 1944; deportation to the Reichenbach camp near Langenbielau (a sub-camp of Gross-Rosen), until the liberation May 1945. Return to Amsterdam, via Eindhoven, a town on the border; activities encouraging aliya to Eretz Israel; aliya to Eretz Israel, March 1946; joining Kibbutz Ein Hanatziv.