Ilse R. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Ilse R., who was born in Berlin, Germany in 1918. She recounts her brother's death in 1920; her father's death in 1930; attending high school; strained relations with some non-Jewish friends beginning in 1933; a book burning; reluctance to leave her mother and brother to emigrate; marriage in October 1938; losing hope on Kristallnacht; forced labor; her brother's emigration to England in 1939; her mother's deportation to Rīga in January 1942 (she never saw her again); assistance from non-Jewish friends; obtaining false papers; living and working in several places; danger of discovery during Allied air raids; living with a non-Jewish friend (they had him recognized by Yad Vashem); liberation by Soviet troops; learning of ghettos and camps; realizing their relatives would not return; finding most non-Jews claimed to be "victims of fascism"; reunion with her brother; and deciding to remain in Berlin, believing it their home and wanting to build a new democracy. Ms. R. discusses her frequent lectures about her experiences; documenting them in a book; and continuing nightmares. She shows photographs and documents.

2 videocassettes