Rebecca L. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 1976
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Rebecca L., who was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1908, one of ten children. She recalls her family spending World War I in London; the births of two siblings there; returning to Antwerp; working as a diamond cutter starting at age sixteen; marriage in 1933; her sister's incarceration in Wurttemburg in 1941 as an English citizen; some family members hiding, while others were deported; her husband encouraging her to join the resistance; arrest in 1943; imprisonment in Antwerp, St. Gilles, Luxembourg, and Aix-La-Chapelle, (presently Allach); singing resistance songs to maintain morale; kindness from a guard; and deportation to Auschwitz. She describes crying upon hearing of the gas chambers and never crying again; learning of the deaths of her father and brother; work assignments in Birkenau including the Canada Kommando; protection by friends; Mala Zimetbaum's escape, capture, and public hanging; the death march to Ravensbru?ck in January 1945; forced labor in several German camps; friends carrying her when she could not walk on the last death march; liberation by Soviet troops in Ries; reunion with surviving family in Brussels; and her divorce. Mrs. L. shows photographs; sings partisan songs; and lists many relatives who were killed.

Extent and Medium

4 videocassettes

Conditions Governing Access

This testimony is open with permission.

Conditions Governing Reproduction

Copyright has been transferred to the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies. Use of this testimony requires permission of the Fortunoff Video Archive.

Related Units of Description

  • Associated material: Sarah G. Holocaust testimony [friend] (HVT-1980), Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.

Rules and Conventions

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Process Info

  • compiled by Staff of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies

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Corporate Bodies

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Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.