Creative: Interview Template
Tara Brown speaks to Joshua Orfefice the last survivor of the holocaust, about his life through and after World War 2 and how he survived living in a concentration camp at the age of 6.
TARA BROWN, PRESENTER: Hi, and welcome to 60 minutes, many thanks for joining us tonight Joshua.
JOSHUA OREFICE, INTERVIEWEE: Good evening Tara.
TARA BROWN: It has 73 years since World War 2 ended, being only 6 at the time, what do you remember about being in a concentration camp?
JOSHUA OREFICE: I remember being really confused when we got taken away and were told to go on the train and I was confused why we were there. I would ask my father, but he never told me the truth about the Nazis and the holocaust and I guess this is what really protected me as a child. When I asked questions, my father would always reply saying something like this is all apart of a game, so you must do what they tell us to do, because you want to win don’t you. Looking back on my time at the concentration camp what I remember most is how my father protected me and looked after me. I could never understand why we couldn’t just go home and leave the camp or why I couldn’t be with my mama. While I was in the camp I was never afraid of what was going on, because of how my father hid me away and protect me from the horrors of death at the camp. Overall what I remember about my time at the concentration camp is that my father was a hero and we were all just playing a game and trying to win. I just never knew that the game was a game of survival. I think my view and perspective of being in the camp is a lot different to other kids and what they went through. At the camp, I had moments when I felt lonely or a little scared, but I was never sad or traumatized. I was able to keep my innocence of being a child.
TARA BROWN: After the war were you able to keep what you had left of your childhood?
JOSHUA OREFICE: Yes, I was, being a camp was a dark time in my life I was still only six. I was so sad, and heat broke once I found out my father was gone, but my mama tried her best to give me a happy childhood. I went to school and I made friends, my mama and I would go bike riding and go on holidays. My father always knew how to find the positive in every situation and knew just how to have fun. Even though my Father had passed my mama wanted to keep that aspect of him in my life. The war had affected so many people in so many ways and I like to think that I could have had it worse, but I didn’t and that’s what I’m so thankful for.
TARA BROWN: Once you were 18 you moved to America from Italy, did the war have any effect on that decisions?
JOSHUA OREFICE: well it was the US army that came to the concentration camp and saved us, they set us free. They picked me up in their tank which was my dream is a little boy, and they helped me find my mama. The Americans seemed so happy and growing up Italy wasn’t a happy place for me anymore. There was so much grief and destruction...
