- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Charles B., a Roman Catholic, who was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1925. He recalls German invasion; joining the Resistance with his brother in November 1942; their denouncement and arrest in June 1943; his brother's release; imprisonment in St. Gilles and Essen; transfer to Esterwegen, then to Gross-Strehlitz, in January 1944; sabotaging production in a munitions factory; receiving Red Cross packages; recovering from a serious injury with assistance from a prisoner doctor; a trial at Opeln; transfer to Laband; celebrating Christmas; an unsuccessful attempt to escape from a death march; train transport to Buchenwald; observing the horrendous condition of Jewish prisoners from Auschwitz; clearing rubble in Weimar after Allied bombings; twenty-eight days on a train with no food; witnessing cannibalism; arrival at Theresienstadt; liberation; traveling to Prague, then Plzeň; repatriation in June 1945; a lengthy recovery in a sanatorium; and reunion with his parents. Mr. B. details camp life; the importance of other prisoners to his survival; intergroup relations, his state of mind, and singing to raise morale in the camps; serving as president of a survivor organization; sharing his experiences with his children; and the impossibility of conveying the reality of these events.
- Author/Creator
- B., Charles, 1925-
- Published
- Brussels, Belgium : Fondation Auschwitz, 1994
- Interview Date
- February 16, 1994.
- Locale
- Belgium
Antwerp (Belgium)
Prague (Czech Republic)
Plzeň (Czech Republic)
Opole (Poland)
- Cite As
- Charles B. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2991). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
- Other Authors/Editors
- Thanassekos, Yannis, interviewer.
Inchusta, Elisabeth, interviewer.
- Notes
-
This testimony is in French.
