- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Vivette S., who was born in Paris, France in 1919. She recalls her family life with its secular, socialist and French emphases; participating in the Front Populaire, including traveling to Spain; German invasion in May 1940; fleeing to Orléans, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, and Vichy; attending university in Toulouse; joining her family in Cannes in 1941; learning about OSE in Montpellier; working for OSE in Rivesaltes rescuing children; a Hanukkah celebration there; leaving in June 1942, having rescued more than 400 children; marriage to the OSE director in Marseille in October; moving to Limoges in March 1943; working for UGIF; her daughter's birth in July; her father's deportation (he did not return); living in Chambéry using false papers; assisting the Resistance; her husband's arrest; fleeing to Lyon after leaving her daughter with a priest; her husband's escape from a deportee train; hiding with him in Paris, Valence, and Aix-en-Provence; liberation; and directing the OSE office in Chambéry, reuniting hidden children with surviving parents. Mrs. S. discusses rescue operations; the effect of separating children from their parents; her French identity; 'holes' in her memory (a protective mechanism); organizing the OSE archives since 1983; and focusing on positive aspects of her experience with her children.
- Author/Creator
- S., Vivette, 1919-
- Published
- Paris, France : Témoignages pour mémoire, 1993
- Interview Date
- January 7, 1993.
- Locale
- France
Saint-Jean-de-Luz (France)
Lyon (France)
Limoges (France)
Marseille (France)
Paris (France)
Spain
Vichy (France)
Orléans (France)
Toulouse (France)
Cannes (France)
Montpellier (France)
Chambéry (France)
Valence (Drôm, France)
Aix-en-Provence (France)
- Cite As
- Vivette S. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2656). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
- Other Authors/Editors
- Wieviorka, Annette, interviewer.
Zarka, Josette, interviewer.
- Notes
-
This testimony is in French.
Related publication : The Holocaust, the French, and the Jews / Susan Zuccotti. -- New York, NY : Basic Books, c1993.
Related publication : Sauver les enfants / Vivette Samuel. -- Paris : Editions L. Levi, c1995.
