- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Helen R., who was born in Lwów, Poland (L'viv, Ukraine) in 1938. She recounts her father's death in 1939; her mother throwing her over a ghetto fence, then climbing over to escape in 1941; her mother acquiring false papers; witnessing her mother's interrogation when she worked as a cook for the German military; being hidden with a farmer; receiving food packages from her mother; being moved to a convent; reunion with her mother after liberation in early 1945; living in Tarnów and Kraków, then Frankfurt and Vienna; her mother's remarriage; emigrating to the United States in 1947 with help from HIAS; learning English; attending school and summer camps; courtships and marriage; the birth of two daughters; and divorce and remarriage. Mrs. R. discusses her coping skills and emotional distance resulting from her experiences; not knowing she was Jewish until her mother's remarriage; identifying herself as a Jew in spite of her ambivalence toward religions; her mother's contact with and financial support of the people who had hidden her; and regret that she could not learn more about their experiences prior to her mother's death. She shows many photographs and documents.
- Author/Creator
- R., Helen, 1938-
- Published
- New York, N.Y. : A Living Memorial to the Holocaust-Museum of Jewish Heritage, 1992
- Interview Date
- December 8, 1992.
- Locale
- Poland
L'viv (Ukraine)
Kraków (Poland)
Frankfurt am Main (Germany)
Vienna (Austria)
Tarnów (Województwo Małopolskie, Poland)
- Cite As
- Helen R. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2539). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
- Other Authors/Editors
- Strochlic, Kathy, interviewer.
Schiff, Gabriele, interviewer.
