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Hella D. Holocaust testimony (HVT-2516) interviewed by Joni-Sue Blinderman,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-2516

Videotape testimony of Hella D., who was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands in 1924. She recounts her parents' divorce in 1929; moving with her mother to Berlin; returning to her father in Amsterdam in January 1939 (her mother moved to London); placement in an orphanage (her father's wife did not want her); working in a hat shop; visiting her father and his three children; German invasion; nursing training at a Jewish hospital; obtaining false papers; she and a friend escaping a round-up at the hospital; moving to another Jewish hospital; hiding during round-ups; a friend's offer to contact the underground for her; placement in hiding with non-Jewish families in Arnhem, Heerenveen, then on farms in Friesland; liberation by British and Canadian troops; returning to Amsterdam; learning her father, his family, and other relatives had been killed; contact from her mother through the Red Cross; joining her in London; emigrating to the United States; marriage; the births of two sons; her husband's death in 1973; and moving her mother to the United States in 1980. Mrs. D. shows photographs.

Author/Creator
D., Hella, 1924-
Published
New York, N.Y. : A Living Memorial to the Holocaust-Museum of Jewish Heritage, 1993
Interview Date
February 8, 1993.
Locale
Netherlands
Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Berlin (Germany)
Arnhem (Netherlands)
Heerenveen (Netherlands)
Friesland (Netherlands)
London (England)
Language
English
Copies
2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Hella D. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2516). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.