David Kahan Oral History

David Kahan Oral History

An interview with David Kahan, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Mr. Kahan was born in 1928 in Gheorgheni, Romania. Under Romanian rule, the Kahan family experienced very few antisemitic incidents. However, with the annexation of Transylvania by Hungary in 1940, the situation began to change and the Jewish community began experiencing increased antisemitism at the hands of the Hungarians. In 1944, the Germans invaded Hungary and immediately began the full-scale persecution of the Jews. The Kahan family was detained and then deported to the ghetto in Szaszregen and then to Auschwitz where David's father, mother, sister and younger brother were gassed upon arrival. David, only 15 years old, was held at Auschwitz for about four weeks and then transported to the Mühldorf labor camp in southwestern Germany. He worked clearing trees for the construction of an underground airplane factory. He was later transported to another labor camp, Mittergars for a short time and then sent back to Mühldorf. He was liberated by the American Army near the town of Seeshaupt, Germany in April 1945. He eventually made his way to the Detroit area in 1950

Bolkosky, Sidney M

Kahan, David

1995-08-14