Fanny W. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Fanny W., who was born in Paris, France to Polish immigrants in 1925, one of five children. She recalls membership in a communist youth organization; resigning due to antisemitism; joining the Bund; her father's military draft in 1939; his demobilization; German invasion; one brother's arrest in 1942 (she never saw him again); hiding with her parents in Orly; her arrest in Paris; prostitutes in jail with her warning her parents to hide; transfer to Drancy in March 1943; deportation to Auschwitz/Birkenau three months later; slave labor breaking stones; hospitalization; a friend obtaining better jobs for her, eventually in the Union Kommando; a Wehrmacht guard bringing her extra food; a strained relationship with her cousin who worked in the camp brothel and assisted her; observing a Red Cross visit; a death march in January 1945 to Wroc?aw; train transport to Malchow; slave labor in a factory; transfer to Buchenwald; liberation; repatriation to Hotel Lutetia in Paris; and reunion with her parents and siblings, all of whom survived in hiding. Ms. W. discusses her hatred for Germans; adjustment difficulties after the war; negative attitudes in France toward concentration camp survivors; reluctance to share her experiences with her parents, siblings, husband, or children; plans to visit Auschwitz on the 50th anniversary of its liberation; and strong attachment to Israel.

4 videocassettes