Interview with Lea Buller,

Interview Summary

**Please note that part of this interview is spoken in Yiddish.**

Lea Buller describes her personal experiences of World War II. She discusses her family being removed from their homes and the various places they hid in order to survive the war. These places included Mangalia, Romania, and small villages in Ukraine. She describes obstacles her family faced while in hiding including her daughter contracting Typhus, and food shortages. She recounts anti-Semitic attitudes Romanian soldiers held which affected their interactions with Romanian Jews, and bribes they collected from those in hiding including her own family. She shares stories about groups of Romanian Jews that organized to petition their mayor for sanctuary and to help those in hiding reconnect with friends or family in Romania. She reflects on her family?s ability to survive till the end of the war, but explains that anti-Semitic attitudes still existed. She discusses how those post-war anti-Semitic attitudes led to the murder of her husband when they returned to Romania.

Interview Keyword

Anti-Semitism Bribes Jewish community Romania Romanian citizens Romanian community Romanian soldiers Sanctuary Town leadership World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives

Interview LC Subject

Ukraine World War, 1939-1945.

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Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.