Andre B. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Andre B., who was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands in 1937. He recounts moving to Naarden in 1939; attending pre-school; playing with his sister; his father bringing him and his sister to another family "for a few days" in 1942 (he never saw his parents again); moving to another family in Amsterdam six weeks later; never going outdoors and hiding in a closet for long periods; difficult relations with the family's children; being taken to Cornjum on a transport with other children in 1944 after payments for them stopped; a Jewish worker smuggling them out; placement with a poor family who were very kind to them; liberation by Canadian troops; being returned to Amsterdam; living with an uncle and aunt who took over their parents' business; being abused both physically and emotionally for seven years; learning he was Jewish through a school friend; his bar mitzvah; his sister running away; living in a Jewish orphanage to age eighteen; emigration to Canada in 1979; marriage to a survivor; and his daughter's death. Mr. B. discusses his lost childhood; his sense of Jewish identity; and positive changes resulting from attending the Hidden Child Conference. He shows photographs.
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. This testimony cannot be used for commercial purposes.
Rules and Conventions
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Process Info
compiled by Staff of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
People
- B., Andre, -- 1937-
Corporate Bodies
- Hidden Child Foundation/ADL
Subjects
- Child abuse.
- Identification (Religion)
- Jewish children in the Holocaust.
- Brothers and sisters.
- Postwar effects.
- Postwar experiences.
- Orphanages -- Netherlands.
- Bar mitzvah.
- Child survivors.
- Hiding.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Video tapes.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Men.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Children.
Places
- Naarden (Netherlands)
- Cornjum (Netherlands)
- Amsterdam (Netherlands)
- Netherlands.
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat