Annelies H. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Annelies H., a twin, who was born in Ko?nigsberg, Germany (presently Kaliningrad, Russia) in 1922. She recalls a happy childhood; her family's affluence; antisemitic violence; her father doing humiliating forced labor; joining relatives in Ri?ga in an attempt to emigrate; returning home at the urging of their relatives; her father's suicide; her mother sending her younger brother to Ri?ga after Kristallnacht (they never saw him again); forced factory labor with her mother; her mother sending her and her twin sister to Berlin in 1941; forced labor in a munitions factory; a last phone call from her mother (she was deported); her sister's employer arranging to hide them with a prostitute; having to leave when her husband, a Nazi, was due home; obtaining papers as non-Jews; living in railroad stations and other temporary locations; threatened exposure by a Jew who was exposing others in hiding; moving to Breslau (presently Wroc?aw); working for area farmers; assistance from a German soldier who knew they were Jews; returning to Berlin; hiding with her sister's fiance? and family in a basement during Soviet bombings; liberation by Soviet troops; working for the Soviets seeking Nazis; satisfaction when seeing a Nazi kicked; and emigration to join relatives in the United States. Ms. H. reflects on her continuing hostility to Germans and Germany; pride in being Jewish despite losing her religious beliefs during the war; attributing her courage to the inspiration of her parents' love; and believing non-survivors cannot truly understand her. She dedicates her testimony to her husband, son, sister, and brother-in-law.

1 videocassette