Andre? R. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Andre? R., a Roman Catholic, who was born in Villefagnan, France in 1921. He recalls his childhood in Angoule?me; German invasion in 1940; protesting anti-Jewish restrictions in 1942; joining the Resistance in Paris; escaping to the Pyrenees in 1943 using false papers; arrest in Dax; interrogations in Biarritz; imprisonment in Bayonne and Bordeaux; transfer to Compie?gne in September; deportation to Buchenwald in October; transfer to Dora, then Majdanek, in February 1944; transport to Auschwitz in April; assistance from a Polish doctor; working near the crematoria in Birkenau; secretly celebrating Christmas; observing prisoners who were used in "medical" experiments; liquidation of the Zigeunerlager (Gypsy Lager); the death march in January 1945; transport to Gross-Rosen, Nordhausen, Dora, then Harzungen; escaping from a death march in April; liberation by United States troops; repatriation to Paris; reunion with his family in Angoule?me; attending the French military academy; marriage; and military service until his retirement. Mr. R. discusses the importance to his survival of his religious faith, friends, and help from others; writing a book about his experiences immediately after liberation; contacting families of prisoners who perished; and the collaboration of the Vichy government and others in France.

3 videocassettes