Marie L. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Maria L., who was born in Thessalonike?, Greece in 1931. She recounts her family's move to Brussels in 1932; their assimilated lifestyle; not realizing she was Jewish; German invasion; a futile attempt to escape to France; not registering as Jews; living with her parents in the home of her father's boss; continuing to attend school; their arrest in July 1944; insisting they were Greek, not Jewish; her father being beaten; deportation to Malines, then to Birkenau eight days later; prisoners instructing her to say she was older; separation from the men (she never saw her father again); her mother's hysteria; prisoners calming her; learning of the gassings and crematoria; suffering from hunger, but even more from thirst; assistance from a French political prisoner; her mother's visits when she was hospitalized; leaving the hospital when warned of a selection; Italian prisoners singing opera; transfer to another camp, then Turkheim; a public hanging; outside slave labor; her mother obtaining an indoor job for her; transfer to Kaufering, then back to Turkheim; working in the kitchen; obtaining extra food; a death march; escaping with her mother and a friend; seeking shelter in a monastery; liberation by United States troops; assistance from the Red Cross; repatriation; assistance from the local Jewish committee; and returning to school. Ms. L. discusses relations between nationalities and her state of mind in the camps; slowly losing hope after the war that her father had survived; her husband's assistance with her ever-present trauma; and the burden of her mother's emotional problems resulting from their experiences.
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. Use of this testimony is restricted. Please consult with staff for additional information.
Rules and Conventions
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Process Info
compiled by Staff of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
People
- L., Marie, -- 1931-
Corporate Bodies
- Birkenau (Concentration camp)
- Malines (Concentration camp)
- International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
- TuĚrkheim (Concentration camp)
- Kaufering (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Postwar effects.
- Postwar experiences.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Children.
- Jewish children in the Holocaust.
- Identification (Religion)
- Mothers and daughters.
- Concentration camps -- Sociological aspects.
- Concentration camps -- Psychological aspects.
- Forced labor.
- Concentration camps -- Songs and music.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities.
- Death marches.
- Escapes.
- Child survivors.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Mutual aid.
- Hospitals in concentration camps.
- Video tapes.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Women.
Places
- Greece.
- Brussels (Belgium)
- ThessalonikeĚ (Greece)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat