and also poland and lithuania at one time were united. but lithuania was once a very great country, and basically captured parts of russia to the black sea. also, in poland, because of so many jewish people, there was a -- they had the jews had a -- their own constitution from the polish government, which allowed them to keep their own public schools. and the public schools were called to translate to english, it said culture. so in these schools, the most subjects were taught in hebrew, but you had to study the history of the country and the language. i just remember very few words. >> and that's what you were doing in vilnius, and so our audience understands, so you are in the russian occupied part of the country. >> also, a must say, we got to vilnius, vilnius is a very old city. it has a great history. but we had no money. so we ended up living in one room in the jewish ghetto. the ghettos were established in italy, in the middle ages, and they -- jews lived with great density and such places. it was terrible living in the room becaus

after a year in lithuania, the family returned to palestine in october 1940. this event was part of the united states holocaust memorial museum's first person series. it's a little over an hour. >>> good morning and welcome to the united states holocaust memorial museum. my name is bill benson, the host of the museum's public program first person. thank you for joining us today. we are in our 17th year of the first person program. and our first person today is mr. julius menn, who we shall meet shortly. this 2016 season of first person is made possible by the generosity of the lewis franklin smith foundation with additional funding from the arlene and daniel fisher foundation. we are grateful for their sponsorship. first person is a series of conversations with survivors of the holocaust who share with us their firsthand accounts of their experience during the holocaust. each of our first person guests serves a

after a year in lithuania, the family returned to palestine in october 1940. this event was part of the united states holocaust memorial museum's first person series. it's a little over an hour. >>> good morning and welcome to the united states holocaust memorial museum. my name is bill benson, the host of the museum's public program first person.

after a year in lithuania, the family returned to palestine in october 1940. this event was part of the united states holocaust memorial museum's first person series. it's a little over an hour. >>> good morning and welcome to the united states holocaust memorial museum. my name is bill benson, the host of the museum's public program first person. thank you for joining us today. we are in our 17th year of the first person program. and our first person today is mr. julius menn, who we shall meet shortly. this 2016 season of first person

some of the remains are buried beneath this mound in lithuania. the assassins reached even the most remote corners, like hiriseni, a tiny village in moldova. so, when the killers came here, they really had only one purpose. >> desbois: only one goal-- kill the jews and the gypsies. only one goal ys >> logan: the village is virtually unchanged since the nazis stormed through here. father desbois's team had gone ahead of us, searching for eyewitnesses to a 70-year-old crime. they were led to an 85-year-old named gheorghe, still working in this vineyard. father desbois told us the first question they ask is always the same... >> desbois: "were you here during the war?" and if the person says, "yes," >> logan: gheorghe was 11 years old then, and he still remembers what he witnessed. >> gheorghe ( translated ): as soon as they came, they locked everyone up. i saw them taking them away. >> logan: he asked him where the jews were killed. >> gheorghe: it's a ravine over there. come and see, if you want. >> logan: so what you're learning here is completely

that's followed by survivor julius mann who tells his story of getting through the war in poland and lithuania. then anna grows who survived the holocaust in romania. >> the political battled during reconstruction, and at 10:50 historians discuss the different narratives created after the war to explain why the south lost. next on american history tv holocaust survivor louise lawrence israel recalls going into hiding with her family after german forces invaded the netherlan netherlands. louise celebrated her second and third birthdays in an amsterdam apartment hidden in plain sight using false identification papers acquired by her father. she discusses how her family coped with life in hiding and how it has affected her since. this event was part of the united states holocaust memorial museum's first person series. >>> we've prepared a brief audio visual introduction and some images. she was born in the netherlands in 1942. the pointer is now pointing to amsterdam, the capital of netherlan netherlands. this is a picture of louise when she was 1 years old. she was cute then. she's still cute no

some of the remains buried here in lithuania. the assassins reached remote corners, like a tiny village in moldova. when the killers came here they really had one purpose? >> only one goal. one goal always. >> reporter: the village is virtuallyunchanged since the nazis stormed through here. the team had gone ahead of us, searching for eyewitnesss to a 70-year-old crime. they were led to a 85-year-old, gior gi working in the vineyard. the first question they ask is always the same. were you here during the war? and if the person says, yes. oh, you can help us. >> ready? >> giorgi was 11 years old then. >> translator: as soon as they came they locked everyone up. saw them taking them away. >> he asked where the jews were killed. a ravine over there. come and see if you want. >> what you are learning is unrecorded? >> if we had never come. we would never have known. >> reporter: giorgi brought us down the road where he said all the jewish families from the village were taken. he told us the day of the shooting he was in now, 70 year