Marguerite J. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Marguerite J., who was born in Heidelberg, Germany in 1926 and lived in Hoffenheim. She recounts cordial relations with non-Jews; attending public school; anti-Jewish restrictions and harassment starting in 1933; commuting to Heidelberg to attend a Jewish school; her sister's emigration to the United States in 1938; Kristallnacht; her father's deportation to Dachau; his release as a World War I veteran; deportation with her parents to Gurs in October 1940; transfer to Rivesaltes; release to a Jewish children's home in Beaulieu in April 1942; hiding in the forest during inspections; learning her parents had been deported (they perished in Auschwitz); placements in convents, first in Brive, then elsewhere; leaving a year later when it became unsafe; placement with a non-Jewish family; liberation by the Maquis in August 1944; living in an OSE children's home; contact with her sister through the Red Cross; and joining her in the United States in 1946. Ms. J. discusses the role of the Eclaireurs israe?lites de France scouts in her rescue (they ran the children's homes in which she stayed); trying to forget her experiences; an emotional break-down in 1953; not sharing her experience with her children; and recently speaking to her grandson's class.

2 videocassettes