Interview with Isaac Jarkovsky,

Interview Summary

Isaac Jarkovsky describes his upbringing in Brussels, Belgium after his family's move from Havana, Cuba. He describes Brussels in the 1930s and early 1940s, as well as his family's failed attempts to escape as the Second World War began. He describes the persecution of the Jews following the German invasion in 1942. After a failed attempt to escape to Switzerland, he says his family's betrayal by another Jew in Brussels led to his father's death in Auschwitz and to his own internment in a concentration camp. He was later able to return to Brussels and join his mother in hiding until the end of the war. He describes the efforts of a minority of non-Jewish Europeans to help the Jews in their plight, in the face of a majority of passive onlookers and another minority of Nazi supporters.

Interview Keyword

Anti-Semitism Brussels (Belgium) Collaborators Gestapo Holocaust survivors. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Nazis. Switzerland--Swiss refugee camps Vittel (France) World War Two World War, 1939-1945--Jews.

Interview LC Subject

World War, 1939-1945.

Interview Rights

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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.