Testimony of Jacob Yaakov Maestro, born in Thessaloniki, 1927, regarding his experiences in Thessaloniki with the partisans, in the Auschwitz camp, on the death march, and in the Mauthausen camp

Testimony of Jacob Yaakov Maestro, born in Thessaloniki, 1927, regarding his experiences in Thessaloniki with the partisans, in Auschwitz, on the death march and in Mauthausen Family life until the outbreak of the war; works for the Germans as a cover for his underground activities for the partisans; Rabbi Koretz and his misinformation; deportation to the Baron Hirsch ghetto, 1943, and the deportation by train to Auschwitz; his work as a translator in Block 1--2 in the camp, and afterwards in the laundry and other places; his role as the person in charge of the transport from Greece, and as work organizer in Arbeitsamt; the Germans in charge and his friends, the prisoners; the carpentry shop in Block 15; death march, 19 January 1945, and the difficulties in carrying on and walking; deportation in an open boxcar to Mauthausen to the tent camp (Zelt Lager); deportation to Melk, 30 January 1945; forced labor building concrete halls for the German Air Force; deportation to Wels; liberation. Treatment for typhus in a Leimbach hospital; the surprise reunion with his brother and their subsequent travel together; transfer to Rome, Castello Andorfo, and St. Maria di Bagno; illegal immigration to Eretz Israel, 1946.