Hilda S. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Hilda S., who was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1930. She recalls her brother's emotional illness; attending a Jewish school (the Philanthropin) due to the Nuremberg laws; Kristallnacht; her father's arrest; his release since he had a United States visa; and leaving with her brother on a children's transport to Brussels. She describes living in an orphanage; her brother's transfer to Ghell, a town which cared for handicapped people; German invasion; her guilt thinking she endangered the orphanage (there were six Jewish children there); leaving school in 1942 when it became too dangerous; losing contact with her parents; her affinity for Catholicism; and liberation in September 1944. Mrs. S. recounts hearing from her father who was in the United States; reunion with her mother (she had been deported to several concentration camps); their emigration to the United States in 1946, leaving her brother in Belgium; and difficulties with her parents since they were essentially strangers having had such different experiences and a seven year separation. She discusses the impact of her experiences on herself and on rearing her children; the importance of the Hidden Children Conference; and her gratitude to Belgium for saving her and continuing to care for her brother so well.

3 videocassettes (3/4" u-matic)