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Bernice B. Holocaust testimony (HVT-1161) interviewed by Jeanette Peckerman and Sandy Hoffman,

Oral History | Digitized | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-1161

Overview

Summary: Videotape testimony of Bernice B., who was born in Strzemieszyce Wielkie, Poland in 1925, the oldest of five children. She recalls pervasive antisemitism; German invasion; expulsion from their house; hiding during round-ups; ghettoization; forced factory labor; deportation to Neustadt in 1942 (she never saw her family again); transfer after three years to Flossenbürg, then Bergen-Belsen; liberation; returning home seeking surviving family; leaving when she found no one; living in Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp; marriage in 1946; her son's birth; and emigration to the United States. Ms. B. discusses surviving due to her hope that she would reunite with her family; observing Jewish holidays in camp; and severe depression, loss of belief in God, and suicidal thoughts upon learning no one in her family had survived. She shows photographs.
Author/Creator: B., Bernice, 1925-
Published: Milwaukee, Wis. : Generation After of Milwaukee, 1988
Interview Date: October 10, 1988.
Locale: Poland
Strzemieszyce Wielkie
Strzemieszyce Wielkie (Poland)
Cite As: Bernice B. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1161). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
Other Authors/Editors: Peckerman, Jeanette, interviewer.
Hoffman, Sanford, interviewer.

Physical Details

Language: English
Copies: 2 copies: 3/4 in. master; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Physical Description: 1 videorecording (54 min.) : col

Keywords & Subjects

Subjects (Local Yale): Postwar effects.
Child survivors.
Antisemitism Prewar.
Postwar experiences.
Subjects: Holocaust survivors. Video tapes. Women. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Jewish. World War, 1939-1945--Children. Jewish ghettos. Jews--Poland--Strzemieszyce Wielkie. Forced labor. Refugee camps. Concentration camps--Psychological aspects. Concentration camp inmates--Religious life. Poland. Strzemieszyce Wielkie (Poland) Oral histories (document genres) B., Bernice,--1925- Neustadt-Glewe (Concentration camp) Flossenbürg (Concentration camp) Bergen-Belsen (Concentration camp) DP-Camp Bergen-Belsen.

Administrative Notes

Holder of Originals: Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
Special Collection: Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies

Link to Yale University Library Catalog:: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/4283399
Record last modified:: 2018-05-30 11:44:00
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4283399

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