Overview
- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Odette S., who was born in France in 1925 to an affluent family. She recalls helping refugees from central Europe; the outbreak of war; the family's moves to Deauville, Dordogne, and Brive; participating in the scouts; moving to Larche in 1942, thinking it would be safer; three months in Italian-occupied Savoie; arrest with her parents in Larche in 1943; separation from her father (she learned later he was shot); transfer with her mother to Drancy via Périgueux and Paris; deportation to Auschwitz/Birkenau; digging ditches; her mother's death after six weeks; transfer to the Canada Kommando which provided her with extra food and clothing; watching people enter the gas chamber area; transfer to Zschopau; working in a munition factory; trying to sabotage the materials; organizing lectures among the inmates; escaping from a cattle car during evacuation; returning to Zschopau; being hidden by a French prisoner, then a German widow (Mrs. S. arranged her recognition by Yad Vashem); joining other deportees after liberation; traveling to Paris via Saint-Avold; and reunion with her uncle. Mrs. S. discusses friendship, the hierarchy and trying to create some normalcy in the camps, and overcoming her reluctance to have children.
- Published
- Paris, France : Témoignages pour mémoire, 1992
- Interview Date
- May 22, 1992.
- Locale
- Savoie (France)
Brive-la-Gaillarde (France)
Dordogne (France)
France
Deauville (France)
Larche (France)
Périgueux (France)
Paris (France)
Saint-Avold (France) - Cite As
- Odette S. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2103). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
- Notes
-
This testimony is in French.
Physical Details
- Language
- French
- Copies
- 2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
- Physical Description
- 1 videorecording (2 hr., 39 min.) : col
Keywords & Subjects
- Subjects (Local Yale)
- Child survivors.
Canada Kommando.
Aid by non-Jews.
Mutual aid.
Hiding.
Postwar experiences.
Postwar effects.
Survivor-child relations.
Italian occupation. - Subjects
- Holocaust survivors. Video tapes. Women. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Jewish. World War, 1939-1945--Children. Forced labor. Escapes. Friendship. Concentration camps--Sociological aspects. Concentration camps--Psychological aspects. Sabotage. Mother and daughter. Savoie (France) Brive-la-Gaillarde (France) Dordogne (France) France. Deauville (France) Larche (France) Périgueux (France) Paris (France) Saint-Avold (France) Oral histories (document genres) S., Odette,--1925- Éclaireurs israélites de France. KZ Zschopau. Drancy (Concentration camp) Birkenau (Concentration camp) Auschwitz (Concentration camp)
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/4286387
- Record last modified:
- 2018-05-30 11:33:00
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4286387
Additional Resources
Librarian ViewDownload & Licensing
- Terms of Use
- This record is digitized but cannot be downloaded online.
In-Person Research
- Requires Research Visit
- Plan a Research Visit
- Find Viewing Location
Request Access from Yale University Libraries
- Requires Yale University Libraries Permission
- Accessing Fortunoff interviews
- Log in to Request and View
- About the Fortunoff Archive
