Oral Histories

Today, the Oral History Archive contains over 230 digitized testimonies. Housed in the Carole Weinstein Holocaust Research Library, the oral history collection provides the personal stories of people who settled in the Commonwealth of Virginia and experienced a mass atrocity.

Click on any name below to access the recorded history for that individual.

A-D

• Althaus, Samuel

  Holocaust Survivor, Poland (from 2005)

• Asher, Inga

  Holocaust Survivor, Germany (from 2003)

• Beverly, Alphonso

  Holocaust Liberator, United States (from 2002)

• Booth, Carlson

  Holocaust Liberator, United States (from 2006)

• Brodt, Hank

  Holocaust Survivor, Poland (from 2006)

• Chan, Sokly

  Genocide Survivor, Cambodia (from 2010)

• Coppard, Vera

  Holocaust Survivor, Germany (from 2001)

• Daniels, Clara

  Holocaust Survivor, Hungary (from 2007)

• DeVizcaya Hylton, Nicole

  Holocaust Resistance, France (from 2002)

E-H

• Eliya, Zyta

  Holocaust Survivor, Czechoslovakia (Sudenland) (from 2004)

• Fischer, Emeric

  Holocaust Survivor, Hungary (from 2009)

• Gayle, Martha

  Holocaust Liberator, United States (from 2001)

• Ginaite-Rubinson, Sara

  Holocaust Survivor & Resistance, Lithuania (from 2009)

• Ginzburg, Alexandra

  Holocaust Survivor, Belarus (from 2005)

• Gorbaty, Rivka

  Holocaust Survivor, Romania (from 2005)

• Gruber, Ruth

  Photo Journalist, United States (from 2003)

• Heller, Agnes

  Holocaust Survivor, Hungary (from 2003)

• Hirsch, Margaret

  Holocaust Survivor, Germany (from 2005)

I-L

• Eliya, Zyta

  Holocaust Survivor, Czechoslovakia (Sudenland) (from 2004)

• Fischer, Emeric

  Holocaust Survivor, Hungary (from 2009)

• Ikeda, Robert

  WWII Veteren and Detained in Internment Camp (from 2000)

• Ipson, Edna

  Holocaust Survivor, Lithuania

• Ipson, Israel

  Holocaust Survivor, Lithuania (from 1991)

• Kaplan, Rosalia

  Holocaust Survivor, Holland (from 2006)

• Kende, Steven

  Holocaust Survivor, Slovakia (from 2009)

• Koller, Rabbi Israel

  Holocaust Survivor, Poland (from 2004)

• Landecker, George

  Holocaust Survivor, East Prussia (from 2004)

• Lebenstein, Alexander

  Holocaust Survivor, Germany (from 2004)

• Lehman, Ted

  Holocaust Survivor, Poland (from 2004)

• Leviatan, Penina

  Holocaust Survivor, Lithuania

• Liebster, Simone

  Holocaust Survivor, French Jehovah's Witness (from 2013)

• Loria, Roger

  Holocaust Survivor, Belgium

• Loupassi, Manuel

  Holocaust Resistance, Greece (from 2005)

M-P

• Maizels, Henri

  Holocaust Survivor, Poland (from 2004)

• Marcus, Ruth

  Holocaust Survivor, France (from 2004)

• Marek, Marta

  Holocaust Survivor, Poland (from 2004)

• Marks, Morton

  w/ Ted Parker, Holocaust Liberator, United States (from 1997)

• Meth, Hilda

  Holocaust Survivor, Romania (from 2004)

• Michel, Werner

  Holocaust Resistance, Germany (from 2006)

• Modly, Edith

  Holocaust Survivor, Hungary (from 2004)

• Murden, Ursula

  Holocaust Survivor, Germany (from 2011)

• Niyonteze, Alinei

  Genocide Survivor, Rwanda (from 2012)

• Nshimye, Francoise and Jason

  Genocide Survivors, Rwanda (from 2011)

• Parker, Ted

  w/ Morton Marks, Holocaust Liberator, United States (from 1997)

• Pekar, Fanyai

  Holocaust Survivor, Ukraine (from 2004)

Q-T

• Rauch, Monique

  Holocaust Survivor, France (from 1998)

• Rogers, Irvin

  Holocaust Liberator, United States (from 2007)

• Sam, Amanda

  Genocide Survivor, Cambodia (from 2012)

• Schimmel, Otto

  Holocaust Survivor, Hungarian (from 2015)

• Schwarz, Simone Pt. 1 Pt. 2

  Holocaust Survivor, Poland (from 2012)

• Shatz, Frank

  Holocaust Survivor, Czechoslovakia (from 2001)

• Shatz, Frank

  Holocaust Survivor, Czechoslovakia (from 2001)

• Shneyder, Yefim

  Holocaust Survivor & Partisan, Belarus (from 1998)

• (Simmons) Atkins, Hella

  w/ Wishner, Lisa, Holocaust Survivors, Netherlands (from 2005)

• (Simmons) Wishner, Lisa

  w/ Atkins Hella, Holocaust Survivors, Netherlands (from 2005)

• Sklyut, Mikhail

  Holocaust Survivor & Partisan, Russia (from 2005)

• Stahl, Ilse

  Holocaust Survivor, Germany (from 2005)

• Strauss, Mark Pt. 1 Pt. 2

  Holocaust Survivor, Poland/Ukraine (from 2003)

• Toth, Juliana

  Holocaust Survivor, Hungary (from 2003)

U-Z

• Zimm, Alan

  Holocaust Survivor, Poland (from 2013)

• Zimm, Halina

  Holocaust Survivor, Poland (from 2013)

• Zimm, Helen

  Holocaust Survivor, Poland (from 1998)

• Zimm, Solomon

  Holocaust Survivor, Poland

Frequently Asked Questions: Oral Histories

What are the museum's oral histories?
The Virginia Holocaust Museum's oral history collection consists of firsthand testimonies from Holocaust survivors, liberators, and witnesses. These recorded interviews preserve personal accounts of experiences during the Holocaust and are used for education, research, and remembrance.

Who is featured in the collection?
The collection includes survivors, rescuers, liberators, and other individuals with direct connections to the Holocaust, many with ties to the Virginia and greater Richmond community.

How can I access the oral histories?
Testimonies can be accessed by selecting any of the links above.

Are the testimonies available to educators for classroom use?
Yes. Educators may use excerpts of these testimonies to support Holocaust education curricula, in accordance with the museum's guidelines for educational use.

Can I suggest someone to be interviewed for the collection?
The museum welcomes inquiries from individuals or families who have a personal connection to the Holocaust and are interested in contributing to the collection. Please contact Timothy Hensley, Director of Collections, at thensley@vaholocaust.org.

How are the interviews conducted and preserved?
Interviews are conducted by trained staff or volunteers and are recorded, archived, and preserved as part of the museum's permanent collection, ensuring these testimonies remain available for future generations.

Why do oral histories matter?
Firsthand testimony offers a personal, human dimension to historical understanding that written records alone cannot provide. As survivors age, these recorded testimonies become an increasingly vital resource for education and remembrance.