Esther H. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 4325
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Esther H., who was born in Düsseldorf, Germany in 1927. She recounts her parents were Polish immigrants; seeing Hitler twice; anti-Jewish restrictions; visiting her grandparents in Poland in 1934; visiting an aunt in Berlin; her father being beaten and their home and store plundered on Kristallnacht; traveling to Antwerp via Aachen to live with a maternal aunt; her parents joining her; German invasion in May 1940; fleeing to Paris via Lille; assistance from the Joint; moving to Toulouse, then Saint-Loup; French soldiers being billeted in the house where they were staying; moving into a barn with another Jewish family for three months; traveling to Lisbon; emigrating to the United States with assistance from HIAS; working for HIAS in 1946; marriage; emigration to Israel in 1950; returning to the United States within a year; and the births of three children. Ms. H. notes the deaths of relatives living in Poland. She shows documents, artwork, and photographs.

Extent and Medium

1 videocassette

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

  • H., Esther, -- 1927-

Corporate Bodies

  • HIAS (Agency)
  • American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.

Subjects

  • Kristallnacht, 1938.
  • Jewish children in the Holocaust.
  • World War, 1939-1945 -- Children.
  • World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
  • Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
  • Women.
  • Video tapes.
  • Holocaust survivors.
  • Crystal Night, 1938.
  • Postwar experiences.
  • Refugees, Jewish.
  • Jews -- Migrations.
  • Child survivors.
  • Antisemitism -- Prewar.

Places

  • Lisbon (Portugal)
  • Saint-Loup-Cammas (France)
  • Israel.
  • Antwerp (Belgium)
  • Lille (France)
  • Paris (France)
  • Toulouse (France)
  • Düsseldorf (Germany)
  • Berlin (Germany)
  • Poland.
  • Aachen (Germany)
  • Germany.

Genre

  • Oral histories. -- aat
This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.