Perla B. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Perla B., who was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1925. She recalls her mother had converted from Catholicism to marry her father; their affluence and orthodoxy; destruction of their apartment during German bombing in April 1941; assistance from Serb friends; her father registering as a Jew (her mother was exempt as a born Catholic and she was exempt due to her age); her father's incarceration in Topovske Šupe; visiting him there; his deportation in November (they never saw him again); her mother obtaining documents proving her family had been Catholic for 200 years, thus exempting her (Perla) from deportation; baptism in 1942; working as a babysitter; her mother working in the Italian embassy, and obtaining a job for her there; the ambassador's wife helping many Jews escape; the ambassador's transfer when the Germans found out; remaining in the embassy; liberation; and she and her mother working for the Jewish cafeteria. Ms. B. notes she never converted back to Judaism since her baptism was invalid; she and her mother observing Jewish holidays; continuing gratitude to Serbs who helped them; anger that Topovske Šupe is not marked or memorialized; and the fates of many Jewish relatives.
Extent and Medium
2 videocassettes
Conditions Governing Access
This testimony is open with permission.
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Copyright has been transferred to the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies. Use of this testimony requires permission of the Fortunoff Video Archive.
Rules and Conventions
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Process Info
compiled by Staff of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
People
- B., Perla, -- 1925-
Subjects
- Child survivors.
- Postwar experiences.
- Mothers and daughters.
- Christian converts.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Video tapes.
- Women.
- Jewish converts from Christianity.
- Children of interfaith marriage.
- Jewish children in the Holocaust.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Children.
Places
- Yugoslavia.
- Belgrade (Serbia)
- Topovske Šupe (Serbia : Concentration camp)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat