Testimony of Yochanan Joachim Strassman, born in Altenburg, Germany, 1936, regarding his experiences as a child in Altenburg, Berlin and Theresienstadt

Testimony of Yochanan Joachim Strassman, born in Altenburg, Germany, 1936, regarding his experiences as a child in Altenburg, Berlin and Theresienstadt Life before the war; son in a traditional family; deportation of his father who is a Polish citizen to Poland. Kristallnacht and destruction of the family business, 09 September 1938; eviction with his mother and brother from their home; escape between German homes; his mother is forced to go to Gestapo headquarters; Gestapo attempts to persuade the mother to give up on the witness and his brother in exchange for her rescue; deportation of the mother by the Gestapo to forced labor; deportation with his brother to Berlin by the Gestapo, 1943; life in a Jewish hospital in Berlin; transfer of Jewish children to the hospital before their deportation; deportation to Theresienstadt, 1944; camp life; removal of the witness's name from the deportee list by the Judenrat member Dr. Grinsfeld; liberation by the Red Army. Abuse of fleeing German soldiers; move with his brother towards Altenburg to look for their mother; life in a refugee camp in Marseilles; aliya on the ship "Atzmaut", 1949.