Odette B. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Odette B., who was born in Paris, France in 1931, one of nine children. She recalls celebrating Jewish holidays with her grandparents; evacuation by the Red Cross in August 1939 because of impending war; her sister's birth in Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay on September 1; her mother arranging their baptism for protection (they still felt they were Jewish), which did not help; deportation of her father, two older brothers, and sister in July 1942; learning her grandparents were deported from Paris; her mother's illnesses; caring for the family; with help from non-Jews, traveling to Chantesse via Angers after their denouncement; receiving false papers; traveling to Paris in 1943 when it became dangerous to stay; hiding in an apartment; returning to their former apartment; liberation; and her brother Henri's return from a concentration camp. Ms. B. discusses her mother's warnings not to ask him about his experiences; having no knowledge of the camps and killings until after the war; the importance to their survival of her mother's psychological strength; and her lost childhood.

2 videocassettes