Jewish Survivor Henryka Shaw Testimony | USC Shoah Foundation 

I wish the interviewer had not interrupted her when speaking about her trauma dealing with the police 27 years after. I know these stories are to focus on their time before and during the Holocaust, which is so important, but I think it is equally as important to talk about the lasting trauma and how it continued to affect them after. It's something a lot of people might not think about as much. The survivors should be able to tell their stories in full.

She gets so stressed and her breathing changes speaking of her father. God bless her!

Henryka Shaw's account is one of the most heartbreaking I have heard. This must be shared, especially now.

I wish someone held her hand through this, the pain is clearly still so alive in her. Absolutely heartbreaking.

An absolutely harrowing interview . I respect how very difficult it must have been to recount the abject horror of it all. An amazing woman . Thank you to the SHOA foundation for helping give a voice to those who survive such traumatic circumstances.

The camp never really ended for this poor lady. Thankful for her testimony reminding us what people are capable of.

This lady survived by being a true rebel . . .by thinking she had nothing to lose,her mum gone,she actually survived,she went through total hell,I do love that rebellious streak!

Mrs. Shaw is a hero. She is a fascinating, intelligent & extremely strong woman. She thought she didn't fit into what society tells us is "beautiful", but she most definitely had beauty, inside & out. To hell with anyone who ever told her otherwise. Thankful for her brave testimony. God rest her soul & bless her daughters & family. I appreciate them sharing her dress & legacy with the world.

Henryka passed away in 2011, aged 84. How courageous to tell about her life and the horrors she went through. What a strong and wonderful woman!

Her spirit got her through. To have that at her age is amazing. A beautiful woman, inside and out. God bless her.

I don't know if I could ever be this brave. Thank you for telling your story!

This amazing, brave woman has a terrible case of PTSD. It breaks my heart to know that we now have treatments that are effective enough to regain some peace. It breaks my heart that this wonderful woman had to suffer for so long. In spite of all this pain, she has given the most vivid and frank account of the horrors of the Concentration Camps that I have experienced in the innumerable testimonies I have heard. I love her powerful spirit and courage. God Bless you Henryka!

This woman’s story goes straight through my heart and her beautiful spirit to my soul.

Of course she still has fear. A sever case of PTSD. She is a true sweet spirit.

I love this lady I love the way she stood up for herself she has a great spirit god bless her xx

Such elegance, beauty, strength and vivid explanations. The best of testimonies. My sympathy and admiration to such a hero. God's blessings and peace always even to the beyond.

Thank you Mrs. Shaw, This interview was many years prior. I truly hope You are alive truly alive breathing life as you and so many more deserve. I have studied the holocaust in depth . I Have researched each and every possible individual pubically and even some not well documented. For us it is a historical testament for you it was your life . You survived in order to teach me and others willing not only to hear but to listen so that we can possibly make others listen . You survived because you rebelled against logic. The Płaszów - Amon Göth camp of terror was nearly impossible to survive unless you had the power and resolve of Oskar Schindler behind you. You did survive against the most limited of odds . I have watched hundreds of these testimonies by enlarge I find the interviewers unempethtic, not aware of the importance of the historical account, most importantly their knowledge of the subject matter is less then sufficient. This particular interviewer at least allowed the testimony to be heard properly . I hope that your family , grandchildren realize how the exceptional human being you are . Thank you

What a strong beautiful lady. Thank you Mrs Shaw for sharing your story ❤ 🙏

Bless this dear lady. Thank you so much for sharing your testimony for the world to hear.

Mrs. Shaw, you are grace personified. Thank you so much. 🖤🖤

Interesting testimony.... the interviewer finally doesn't sound as cold as many others do.........

Thank you Miss Shaw for telling your story...I hope that life gave you only the sweetest fruits for all of your days.

A very moving testimony. Mrs. Shaw gave it with such deep emotion. It was a good thing she was tall. It made it more believable when she told them she was eighteen. I am always struck how just a small turn of events could mean the difference between life and death. It seems she had a few of those. I thought it was great how she stood up to that teacher. It was very brave.

Absolutely heart breaking. Very brave lady.

Lovely lady. Bless her and her family.

I hope after these interviews the survivors get a big hug.

But a wonderful woman. Sometimes when I listen to her I would think then I could never have wanted to survive. I may have been one of those who threw themselves on the fence. This sounds dramatic, good I should say this, but I do not know how any of these people who have told her stories would’ve been so brave to survive. I hear the hand of God in all of these people survived. Mrs. Shaw used to her intelligence, her bravery and her wits. She survived to have this beautiful family. She has left a beautiful legacy.

Please have more respect for these people. Stop interrupting them and let them talk. We want to hear them. Yes some ramble and they deserve to be left alone to tell their stories. At the same time thank you for what you do. This precious beautiful classy woman has really been shown what humans are capable of. Bless her and what she had accomplished in life. I had to come back and add what a spit fire she is. I’m going to search and see if I can find any books or memoirs from her. I don’t remember if she mentioned this or not but I could listen to her for days

One of the most heartbreaking, but well told story I've listened to about this. They should play this video in history class for kids in school. Beautiful, strong woman who had lived through such an atrocity. Gifting this story to the world was a selfless gift, so much respect for her!!

A beautiful soul that went through hell. We have no idea...

The dress she wore when liberated is on display in an Australian memorial.

Such a precious woman.🙏🏻

Thank you for sharing! You are a beautiful person !

This lady is amazing! I just love her!

What a delightful lady!

Lovely lady. Thank you and God bless you! ♡♡♡♡

A very heartbreaking testimony. Thank you for sharing your story.

Wonderful lady and so strong too. Rest in Peace, beautiful! ⭐💫⭐

Thank you Mrs. Shaw.

Thank You Very Much Mrs. Shaw For Sharing. You Are A Very Nice Kind Lady.. God Bless You..

I love it when she asked, what were the conditions of the cattle trucks.. She looked at her like... what do you think. Have you ever seen a cattle truck?

Poor lady is so sensitive to have seen such horrors. Haunted.

Good on her for getting up and defending herself in that classroom where she was provoked

I think you are a beautifull lady. Thank you for telling your story

This lady deserves a good long life.

This is heart breaking

Thank you so much for sharing your story. God bless you.

What a beautiful family and a lovely, strong and beautiful woman. May God bless her and all of her family. XXOO

✊ what a lady

god bless this lovely lady i can see that she is reliving every moment thank you so much for telling your testimony

The end of the video shows a pacified, wonderful woman, surrounded by love. You deserved that, after all you went through. Thankyou 👌

What a lady who suffered so much. She has a beautiful family. May God bless her richly. Anne Abraham❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

What keeps amazing me about these testamonies is that the people were very assimilated, considered themselves Germans or Poles etc first, patriotic, lots of older family members served in WWI, and give the impression that in another generation or two would be completely assimilated. Instead they were very forcibly reminded they are *not* German, Polish, etc and this when their families had been in Germany, Poland etc for 100s of years.

Elegant and intelligent, being kicked out of school didn't keep her from learning on her own. She has a great vocabulary, better than most of us, as it was something immigrants USED to learn right away. With her wonderful eyes and high cheek bones, she must have looked bad when she wasn't getting enough food. It's a miracle she wasn't sent to die after one of the 'selections'. I, too, was skinny and taller than all the kids; many were cruel, and she probably endured a lot of bullying, especially as a Jew. A side note: Amon Goet spawned a horrible daughter that has been making money by speaking about her father from the angle of "He wasn't that bad" and also trying to illicit $ and sympathy as the daughter of a monster- shameful performance, especially when she badgered one of the 2 Jewish women that worked for Goet in his villa into a confrontation. The woman (not the one they show in Schindler's List) agreed to it ONLY if his daughter promised NOT to try to sway her into thinking he really wasn't so bad. The poor woman walked out on her when she kept bending her testimony. Thank you Mrs. Shaw for your courage! SALUTE!

Thank you fro sharing!

I feel bad each time they have to stop to change the tape, it’s always in the middle of a heartbreaking part where the interviewee is getting emotional. 😢

Having taken the time to really watch many many of these testimonials. Mrs. Shaw is the most clearly affected emotionally. She obviously relives the emotional aspects of her harrowing experience more so than many of the others. I have 3 German grandparents who came to the US in 1948 and 54. And 8 German Great Grandparents. I have no idea what their lives were like other than their professions. We weren’t allowed to ask and no one has ever uttered a word but I have a very real feeling of guilt and responsibility for the pain of these people. If nothing else I am really trying to watch every one of their stories.

Thanks for documenting...brave ..

Amazing, beautiful, hero!!

The beginning part is chilling, that they assumed nothing could get very bad because the Germans were civilized and cultured etc.

I have now watched many of these interviews. Amazingly strong people, all of them. However all the interviewers are irritating to me. She s crying and telling how horrible the feeling was to tell her mother about her father and all the interviewer say is: we need to change tapes. :/

Incredible story. God bless you

She mentions encountering Amon Goetz at Plaszow depicted in the movie Schindler's List played by Ralph Fiennes. He was hanged for his crimes.

God Bless you Henryka

EXTREMELY HARD TO SEE THE AGONY THAT THIS LADY WENT. THROUGH. AND WE WONDER IF THERE IS A DEVIL...... WHEN WE SEE WHAT HAS BEEN DONE TO INNOCENT PEOPLE, THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT THERE IS A HELL WHERE THOSE DEMONS WILL END UP AMEN

God grant you peace ,you suffered so much

I have watched many SHOA testimonies and in this particular case, feel that remembering was so painful to her that she shouldn't have testified. She was too fragile to go through it all again.

The part at the end where she comments on Yugoslavia, indeed they were at war for land. Germany in WWII was in a war for land; their plan was to take over all of Europe and then the world. Japan was at war for land, they started to invade China (Manchuria) plus wanted to rule the Pacific even Australia. It's always about land and territory because with land you can grow food etc.

God bless you Henryka xxxxx

God bless her.

Beautiful lady story so sad

My grandfather who was a veteran of ww2 in Africa, Italy and in Germany said you could smell German soldiers from yards away, he said it was a smell he'll never forget, he said it was a very strong sour pungent and almost sickly smell, as it turned out the smell emanated from their feet that were in their leather boots for weeks, combined with the smell of sweaty leather and B.O. it made it easy to sniff out the Nazis and papaw said. He once told me that as his unit approached Germany thousands of German soldiers were surrendering and that smell was extremely heavy and the POW camp that held German POW's smelled like a giant foot. My cousin who's German born and raised, his opa was a Wehrmacht soldier, and he told my cousin that in the last months of the war, the soldiers were exhausted, hungry and they would rest and take their boots off and he told him that when hundreds of the soldiers that were resting it wasn't long before the Americans and British forces found them he told my cousin that a few senior officers of the Wehrmacht scolded them for taking their boots off but it was too late. He realized after the war that the soldiers could be found because of their odor mainly foot odor and body odor mixed with sweaty leather smell. Horrible times indeed. Never again.

It is a pity Henryka didn't mention her exact home adress. I am a Pole and living in Krakow in the same city she was born. Respect for her story. Very interesting.

Such a harrowing ordeal. Man's inhumanity to man. Awful.

Her testimoney has broken my heart. I keep wishing that the interviewer would stop interrupting her when she goes into details of other things, I wish she would let her finish her story and then get back to the area she wants her to go back to, it makes me so upset for her to keep interrupting her.

It's been a privilege Mrs Shaw you're one ballsy lady.

Amazing lady!🤍

Yes, Goeth was 6'5

The coldness of the interview-er is appalling and the constant interrupting always in most emotional and vulnerable moments made me want to stop watching. Out of respect towards Mrs. Shaw I finished it up heartbroken! Forgive us!

I wish the interviewer had let her show the article/names of the 4 Jewish girls who were hung. They never showed at the end.

If her father had known that his wife was still alive he probably would not have given up on living.

I know a Holocaust survivor and it effected the next generation. Her sister committed suicide after the war because she was experimented on the war did not end for these people it effected generations. A mother goes missing and never to be seen from again is a story that goes on and on. Only God can make this right Humanity has not changed that much. I am a Vegan I believe the same thing is happening to factory farms dairy industry no one saves them enslaved their entire lives until the drop what is the difference.

I have seen this often in the interviews .the phone rings they interrupt or something. I wonder if it’s a tactic to disrupt the thinking to far into the pain.

Beautiful Queen

When this incredible lady was telling the story about the man that she recognized in the Jewish church. I wish that the interviewer would have let her finish. As soon as this brave, beautiful, strong, classy lady, starts talking about the terror that the evil bastar* put her threw, the interviewer started asking her questions about that moment. From all other subjects the brave lady touched on, that part got her attention. Please be more respectful and let her talk without interrupting. Respect her

She's right about her parents being part of the Austro-Hungarian empire during the first world war, back in her time about 90% of Poles spoke German.

Bravo

I'm curious what is NAFTA that she was referring to as the injection her father was given that caused his passing. I can't seem to find any references to that medication does anyone know? What a beautiful soul thank you for sharing your story your testimony and many others I've listened to stay in my heart and because of your bravery of sharing so this never is repeated always will stay with me and I share these with my own children so that the world never forgets and that they and I if ever faces seeing such injustice and discrimination will speak up and take action and not stand by while others are persecuted. May god bless your beautiful soul, your family present and past sweetheart. Many blessing. Thank you heavenly father for not making me like those murders

🤗💕💕💕🙏

What is and injection of "Nafta". I am a nurse and never heard of it. Looked it up on Google. Is it her accent or another name for a drug in Germany. ?

The person interviewing these survivors needs to get someone else to do it...she is so awful it's annoying. This survivors story was so compelling but the lady asking questions with no tact at all was very distracting because I really wanted to tell her that she was doing a horrible job and to just shut up.

I love how Germans are saying it is time to forget. She did not why would I?

Just the thought of her making straw covers for the soldiers stinky boots. What did the soldiers think, that that straw would cover the foot stink ha yeah ok. Personally i would have sabotaged the straw to where it would fall apart the first use.

To hell with sharing If me and my children were in a camp like that, especially if i put my life at risk to smuggle food in. I'd share with my kids my husband to hell with everyone else.

The human-derived soap detail is simply terrible...

Lovely news article with photos - www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/simple-dress-a-mother-s-mighty-symbol-of-strength-20200506-p54qgm.html

Amon's girlfriend's name was Ruth

These poor victims have to live with these horrible hate crimes done to them.Just because they are jewish? I think she may be dead now her mind can finally rest in peace pretty lady I'm sorry this happend to you n your people mrs. Shaw.

Terrible interviewer. No respect, no sympathy. What a shame!

Damn..that's one scary looking heffa..eewww