Interview with Irene Hizme,

Interview Summary

Irene Hizme was a Czechoslovakian Jew during World War II and the Holocaust. She describes the Holocaust from her perspective as a very young child. Hizme was a twin which caused special investigation from the Germans while in Auschwitz.

She describes being exposed to medical experimentation and being frequently subjected to injections from the camp doctor. Hizme recalls the emotions she felt being in the camp and how her treatment affected those emotions.

Hizme talks about being liberated from the camp and having her life saved by an older Catholic woman before the Russians arrived. She talks about returning to live with that woman until being claimed by the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and being placed in foster care.

Hizme discusses her time in foster care as she was transferred through orphanages in Europe and eventually she is sent to the United States where she is finally adopted. She talks about growing up as a Holocaust survivor and how that affected her life afterwards.

Interview Keyword

Auschwitz (Concentration camp) Childhood. Concentration camps Death. Emotions. Experiments. Family German occupation of Czechoslovakia Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Injections. Twins.

Interview LC Subject

World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

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