Overview
- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Paul B., a non-Jew, who was born in Ougrée, Belgium, in 1921. He recalls his father's death in 1926; his mother's remarriage; becoming a shoemaker; active participation with the Young Socialists (JS); joining the Resistance; arrest with others in his network; imprisonment in Huy; two days in Breendonk; transfer to Mauthausen; trying to help a former teacher; transfer a week later to Gusen; soccer games between nationality groups; prisoner musical performances; increasing debilitation; help from a priest who perished and for whom he sought recognition after the war; transfer to Struthof, then Dachau and Allach; sabotaging work as part of an organized resistance; help from French POWs; liberation by United States troops; beating a sadistic block elder; repatriation to Liège by the Red Cross; and reunion with his family. Mr B. details daily life in the camps, forced labor, and starvation; relationships between inmates; encounters with Jewish prisoners; camp organization; alliances of French speakers; praying to his mother; and the importance of friendships. He discusses the humiliation in the camps; attributes his survival to luck; the difficultly of contacts with families of prisoners who perished; and participating in survivor organizations, including trips to the camps.
- Published
- Brussels, Belgium : Fondation Auschwitz, 1993
- Interview Date
- December 20, 1993.
- Locale
- Belgium
Germany
Ougrée (Belgium)
Liège (Belgium) - Cite As
- Paul B. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2992). 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 (4 hr., 1 min.) : col
Keywords & Subjects
- Subjects (Local Yale)
- Resistance.
Mutual aid.
Sabotage.
Concentration camps Underground movements.
Postwar experiences.
Postwar effects. - Subjects
- Video tapes. Men. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Belgian. World War, 1939-1945--Underground movements--Belgium. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. Concentration camp inmates. Forced labor. Friendship. World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons,Belgian. Concentration camps--Songs and music. World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities. Prisoners of war--Germany. Concentration camps--Psychological aspects. Revenge. Concentration camps--Sociological aspects. Belgium. Ougrée (Belgium) Liège (Belgium) Oral histories (document genres) B., Paul,--1921- JS (Organization) International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Breendonk (Concentration camp) Mauthausen (Concentration camp) Gusen (Concentration camp) Struthof (Concentration camp) Dachau (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/4289953
- Record last modified:
- 2018-05-30 11:28:00
- This page:
- http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4289953
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