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Helga F. Holocaust testimony (HVT-2319) interviewed by Elizabeth Jacob,

Oral History | Digitized | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-2319

Overview

Summary: Videotape testimony of Helga F., who was born in Berlin, Germany in 1926. She recounts increasing anti-Jewish actions; expulsion from public school in 1936; attending Jewish school; visiting relatives in Sweden who warned them to emigrate; her sense that Kristallnacht marked the end of her childhood; fleeing to Paris with her parents; her father's incarceration as an enemy alien prior to German invasion; his return after the invasion; his death from a heart attack in 1942; anti-Jewish regulations; being rounded-up with her mother in the Vélodrome d'hiver; her mother's release due to an influential friend; communicating with her mother with assistance from Vélodrome d'hiver employees; release before the final deportation; hiding with her mother under false papers from August 1943 until liberation in August 1944; working for the Joint; marriage to an American soldier; and emigration to the United States. Mrs. F. discusses her scars: loss of childhood; rootlessness; and recovering her identity. She notes that her children know she is a survivor, but she does not want to burden them with the details.
Author/Creator: F., Helga, 1926-
Published: Wilmette, Ill. : Holocaust Education Foundation, 1993
Interview Date: January 31, 1993.
Locale: Germany
Berlin (Germany)
Paris (France)
Cite As: Helga F. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2319). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
Other Authors/Editors: Jacob, Elizabeth, interviewer.

Physical Details

Language: English
Copies: 2 copies: 3/4 in. master; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Physical Description: 1 videorecording (59 min.) : col

Keywords & Subjects

Subjects (Local Yale): Child survivors.
Crystal Night, 1938.
Antisemitism Prewar.
Aid by non-Jews.
Hiding.
False papers.
Postwar experiences.
Postwar effects.
Survivor-child relations.
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 refugees. Jews--Migrations. Mothers and daughters. Germany. Berlin (Germany) Paris (France) Kristallnacht, 1938. Oral histories (document genres) F., Helga,--1926- Vélodrome d'hiver (Paris, France) American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.

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/4287317
Record last modified:: 2018-06-04 13:28:00
This page:: http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4287317

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