Sylvie S. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Sylvie S., who was born in Westhoffen, France in 1924. She speaks of her family's strong sense of French identity; her father's concern when the Nazis came to power; fleeing with her family from Westhoffen in June 1940; spending a night in Decize; settling in Saint-Amand; her uncle's and older sister's involvement in Jewish organizations; and implementation of anti-Jewish restrictions. Mrs. S. remembers escorting Jewish children with false papers on a train; round-ups of Jews who were deported; avoiding deportation with assistance from local people; Saint-Amand's brief liberation by the Maquis and a German counteraction; learning her uncle was killed by the Germans; imprisonment of all Jews from Saint-Amand (with her mother and sister) in Bourges; the removal of eight women; returning to Saint-Amand after they were released; locating her older sister; and liberation by United States troops. She relates learning of the mass killings of those who had been removed from the prison in Bourges; attending their funeral; returning to Westhoffen; studying in Strasbourg; emigration to the United States in 1947; and her extended family's war experiences. She shows photographs and a document dealing with the mass killing of the Bourges prisoners.

2 videocassettes (3/4" u-matic)