Surviving WWII as a Teenager | Viola Kohn | USC Shoah Foundation

Jewish WWII Holocaust survivor, Viola Kohn, was born on August 17th, 1927, in Czechoslovakia. Viola was a teenager when WWII started and, in her USC Shoah Foundation testimony, she reflects on her journey of survival during this pivotal time in her life.
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#wwii holocaust #antisemitism #antisemitic #jewish #teenager #survival #czechoslovakia #czech #germany #hitler #family #education #history #violakohn #uscshoahfoundation #war #allies #enemies

[@iangreenberg5101]

She lived another 30 years after this video. Passed away at 97 in 2020. RIP

[@FRAME5RS]

My mom was born 30 days after her (Sept 1927) and died in 2019 at age 91. Not sure this lady was 97. More like 92-93.

[@adambrocklehurst4211]

Thank God!

[@janetblanc7658]

Dear Viola, rest in peace with your beloved mother and all your departed family.

[@9215689]

What an amazing lady. So courageous and compelling. You can see the sadness and genuineness in her eyes. Love from Ireland and these videos are an essential testimony to the horror that humans can inflict on one another. Thank you so much Viola for sharing. I am watching this with my sister. We are not Jewish but the tragedy of the Holocaust inspired us to work with human rights. Never Again...

[@janetblanc7658]

I hope you are right Keith but the present situation in the US as well as in some European countries is troubling. Greetings from a fellow Irish person.

[@riosdepr2010]

Yes she had a very sad face ,,,😢n here we go again soon cause we learn nothing😢

[@Mike-01234]

These stories should be made into movies their courage to survive at such a young age they never gave up. The one thing that is lost in these stores is just how long they had to endure so much. I can't imagine living like that for a month but many lived like this for 1-6 years.

[@norikootsuki4661]

There are hundreds of movies, videos, and documentaries depicting the horrors of this time in human history. All we have to do is look for them. Escape from Sobibor, Sophie’s Choice, and many others; it’s impossible to name them all. Building empathy in human beings is not an inherent skill. It must be taught from an early age. People should study all aspects of our shared human history,

[@angelasmith6557]

This is another terrible memory of man’s inhumanity to man. My great uncle ( Jim Broderick) was one of the British soldiers who helped to liberate this camp. I never met him. He died after he was demobbed of a kidney infection which the dr said he’d probably picked up in the camp. Shortly after my mother told me about my great uncle we were reading the Diary of Ann Frank in school. After we’d finished the book I decided to borrow it from the library. One day I was reading it & I thought that it was such a nice day that I decided to read outdoors in the garden. So I got myself organised with a drink & I sat on the deck chair & I suddenly thought how similar in age I was to Ann & I realised that when she was in hiding how she must have longed to sit outside on a nice day & to have a cool drink. My interest in the holocaust started then.I’m 63 now & I always remember all those who suffered & died as a result of this terrible time.

[@zulmabontiffe487]

Her son looks exactly like her brother. The interviewer was awesome.

[@norikootsuki4661]

Thank you so much Viola Kohn for your testimony of your experience growing up. Everyone need to remember these dark times. Many people say, “never again!”, but I wonder. All it takes is the right set of circumstances when we turn our backs on each other and pretend not to see. Authoritarianism with its dictators has a life of its own. This is why eyewitness testimony such as yours from people who were actually there when these atrocities happened is essential as a reminder of what people are capable of doing to each other. Thank you again for your generosity in sharing these painful memories. We must educate ourselves and only then can we truly say, “Never again!”.

[@blackie75]

Agreed, and we must also realise that repression is the breeding ground for hatred and violence. If we force people to behave and speak a certain way, they will eventually strike out. This is the danger of the society we live in today, where the government and extreme left is trying to control the way everybody lives and acts. Look at what happened when Trump became president, it took very little for a certain faction of his supporters to start denouncing races of people and become violent. It's brewing under the surface is in today's society more than ever and we must be vigilant and aware of the repercussions what we do from now on.

[@diegoluna5819]

What a brave woman! Her son looks like her brother! I felt her hurting when she was telling the part she came back home and strangers were living in their home. 😥

[@ingridwatsup9671]

Viola Kohn died January 5, 2020 at the age of 97. Rest In Peace dear.

[@loonylinda]

very sad..but good interview and sensitive interviewer

[@fuensantacampillogomez3288]

Thank you for passing on your experiences, you will not fall into a void. United we will ensure that the barbarity committed is not repeated

[@andrewwilson5266]

Viola tells an all to familiar story. She seems like a beautiful person. I fear that our country is so divided that history is going to repeat only worse.

[@blancabulgrin5560]

I have been saying this since 2016 it doesn't look good

[@imalrockme]

Her family even mentioned it at that time when they heard of camps and deportations: "what? No! Not in the 20th century it doesn't happen". We know all it takes...

[@rebekahwhite2939]

As the Holocaust survivors among us become more frail and pass on, we must ensure their stories and legacies continue. We must keep our promises to them.

[@kaycox5555]

Astounding story, moving, sad and strangely hopeful. Thank you for sharing.

[@rustynaile7042]

Very good report by this brave lady; but, the audio needs to be enhanced. This video can be remastered with better audio. What a beautiful , brave, and strong woman. God Bless her!

[@JaneDoe-ql7sc]

Viola Kohn is such a sweet, candid, intelligent woman, a beautiful survivor. I could only imagine how she felt in so many abysmal situations from the SS & Nazis. She's so honest, not in denial at all. I felt so sorry when she went back to her former home & strangers were there, not her parents nor any family members. I just think she is a champion as well as a survivor

[@rebekahwhite2939]

Some of my Dad Fred White's family members died in the Holocaust. My Dad, Fred White was born on April 23, 1917, and he was in the NAVY during World War 2. There are exhibits at some of the museums for documents that are kept on file for family members of people who died in the Holocaust. There is also a genealogy research library at some of the Jewish centers. My Dad, Fred White's gravesite is located at Beth David Cemetery in Elmont, New York in Long Island.

[@ellenwheat3608]

She has such good recall of details and feelings. Thanks for the dramatic insights. It is endlessly shocking how people could turn against others like that. Ceaselessly horrifying. Of the many testimonies, This account is impressively forceful and memorable.

[@vidaeterna1026]

Es tan conmovedora esta historia q no me canso de verla y escucharla y la verdad es q cada una me hace llorar varias veces lo unico malo es q casi no se escucha

[@lizetearruda3196]

My second oldest sister is also Olga. 🙂

[@harrynking777]

To think this brutal behaviour occurred in the 20th century, shows that man is just as cruel or more so as was the case millennia ago.

[@patriciacole8773]

And coming again as an attack against Sabbath keepers. Remember the fourth commandment KJV. The last test is Sabbath or sun day. Researching the sun day observance tradition of ancient pagan rome is eye opening. They will soon present sun day rest by Force of law as the “solution “ for all the current world events. Come out of her My people. Jesus returns for His faithful commandment keeping remnant church. Just after the seven last plagues.

[@marydunphy8035]

tthank you for your story god bless you

[@cindyhalpern3187]

I feel sad the interviewer repeated painful questions towards the end. This material was covered already. There was no reason to make the Survivor suffer. Thank G- D, the interviewer did not disturb Debbie. I feared for the survivor's daughter's well being. But her son did a good job. I am sad her grandson will never be Bar Mitzvah. The daughter- in- law should allow the boy to be Jewish after all this Survivor has been through! She didn't live happily after. I am so sorry she still suffered . Having a sick daughter is so unfair after what she endured!

[@mrbatman4robin]

Ms Kohn says herself though that based on what she lived through and witnessed she lost her faith because what good did their faith do to the many who perished in the most atrocious ways...

[@rebekahwhite2939]

I appreciate you sharing your knowledge about history and genealogy. When I do genealogy research it gives me perspective on what my Dad, Fred White lived through and how my life has been a lot easier than my Dad Fred's life was in the 1920's and 1930's and 1940's and 1950's. When I do genealogy research it improves mental health because it develops how I think. When I read and learn about World War 2 and what it was like before they had public assistance, it changes the ways that I think. The government created public assistance which is food stamps and HEAP and cash assistance and SSI in about 1976 which means that my Dad Fred and my grandparents did not have public assistance because public assistance did not exist in the 1920's and 1930's and 1940's and 1950's and 1960's. Some of my Dad Fred White's family members died in the Holocaust in Europe

[@monikastak]

Beautiful lady, she went through hell and back and still has he priorities right. Family and friends and your health are everything.... everything else that's material is just that. RIP💞

[@jankench1731]

Her son looks just like her brother in the photo shown earlier.

[@lorrainelafond4447]

They need to make the volume better can't hardly hear anything they are saying

[@carsten9168]

We may forgive but will never ever forget ! From Malaysia, we hope and pray God takes the ultimate and just revenge against the Nazis for all their heinous and despicable crimes against humanity on Judgement Day !

[@denniseck674]

Ok

[@ellenwheat3608]

Seems incredible. Horrific. Its 2023 now, and clearly it seems like it has happened again in several global places, and its scary in our country now, with attitudes toward numerous groups. The recent Ken Burns? PBS documentary on the US attitude re the holocaust should be part of school curriculum for these reasons. I was born in 1941, and i knew some of it but not the full picture of that era in our country. I remember we moved to Seattle in 1947 when my dad took a new job in Seattle at the UW and we lived in university housing; next door to us a family moved in with children and i saw them only occasionally in passing, they were gaunt and stayed in their house all the time, didnt play with us, and they had blackout curtains that they kept drawn all the time. Mother told us about them, the holocaust, what they had been through, as if to help us to be gentle with them, a powerful memory.

[@lindachambers6053]

Once again, I'm reporting the sound quality is poor for many of these interviews. The volume is so low that her words are indistinct and the volume on my device is turned up all the way. This situation is pervasive throughout the interviews. I am aware that I can use headphones but that is not what I want to do, as my headphones are wired.

[@aliceberry9392]

I have to use a speaker.

[@virginiaboone8163]

The sound is good and clear on my iphone

[@Mike-01234]

The problem was these are from the 1990's what they were doing was trying to get these interviews of 50k+ people before they died or got too old to clearly remember their experiences. In order to do that they had to get 100's of interviewers send them all over the country and some to other countries with low cost video camera equipment of that era. Not sure of your age but the video cameras of that time would fill a suitcase with the extra tapes tripods. Professional sound wasn't the priority.

[@bishopscore]

I have watched various testimonies of survivors and I have noticed their rejection of the creator. After witnessing so much evil and death, your faith would certainly be shaken. I hope they all found peace in their hearts.

[@user-qo1rw3et4h]

She was a lady we all should admire. I really enjoyed her testimony. ANNE ABRAHAM❤❤❤❤❤❤😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@judymohre1430]

Can hardly hear.

[@judynelms4265]

She was such a beautiful lady, so sad she lost her faith and blamed God for the evil.

[@rebekahwhite2939]

Feb 21, 2021, 2:07 AM My grandparents went to one-room school houses in about the 1940s and 1950s and they went to school for primary school which is about kindergarten to seventh grade 🤓 They didn't get to go to high schools because they had to work on farms or in factories in those days My Dad Fred White went to night school in about the 1920s and they didn't get to go to school in those days because they had to grow foods to eat in gardens and milk cows for food to eat

[@terrieormonde2340]

May she rest in the Lord's peace for eternity. She will live for eternity with Him. ✝️✡️🕊❤️

[@LisaRichards_123]

This is not the best place to preach Jesus. Perhaps you should have the respect to do that elsewhere.

[@jonbornholdt1790]

@@LisaRichards_123 Her message was hardly a sermon; Jesus' name wasn't even mentioned. And note the presence of the cross and the Jewish star at the end of her post; it's a friendly, ecumenical gesture.

[@patriciarouse2801]

Noticing the behavior of " do not know" how human beings perceived and understand the world through the ages. Because " human knowledge" " human concept" " human perception" would be the one thing that informs one another. Much as the symbolism of language . This is , one can imagine, the one thing unique to human kind we ought know, understand and apply to "human development".. Here on the only planet know to support abundant , predictable life cycle , where each human being has 100+/- years , communicating knowable things , ideas developed and sometimes tested.... In 2022 the notion of " not knowing" Roman Catholic theology or Jewish, or Moslem, or Buddhism, or Jain, or Hindu, or Bantu, or Iroquois, or Hopi, or Choctaw, or Seminole, or Cherokee, or Navaho, or Apache, or ,Maka, or Patawatami , Osage, Lakota, Blackfoot, Pawnee, Ojibwa, Yaki, Mayan, Pono, Chumish,Eselan . ECT..what are we doing?

[@LisaRichards_123]

It is not our God that failed. It is theirs--the god of the Nazis, the Germans and the Hungarians that failed.

[@Watchmewatch5752]

How many Gods are there, in your world?

[@chrispbacon3042]

I am not surprised people got sick by eating english food.

[@JayWalker2222]

another load of bull

[@imalrockme]

Stop looking in the mirror.

[@karenjohnson5271]

That is why they tell their stories. So no one forgets.