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Bernard D. Holocaust testimony (HVT-2993) interviewed by Judith Feit and Elisabeth Inchusta,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-2993

Videotape testimony of Bernard D., a Catholic, who was born in Gerponville, France in 1915. He recounts moving to Belgium when he was five; a Jesuit education; becoming a textile engineer; marriage; the births of three children; military service in 1937; remobilization immediately prior to German invasion; returning home; Resistance activities in Brussels; denunciation; surrendering when his wife was threatened with arrest; beatings during interrogations in St. Gilles; transfer to Bochum; slave labor; punishment for sabotaging the work; transfer to Esterwegen; slave labor sorting cartridges; a sham trial in January 1944 in Essen; designation as a "Nacht und Nebel" prisoner; transfer to Sachsenhausen; slave labor; public executions; Allied bombings; hospitalization; assistance from a Belgian doctor; transfer to Natzweiler-Struthof; drinking his own urine en route; transfer to Dachau, then Mauthausen; slave labor in a quarry; transfer to Gusen; resisting a kapo's homosexual advances; slave labor in an airplane factory; sabotaging the work; liberation by United States troops in April 1945; recovering in Linz; repatriation to Tournai via Reims; and reunion with his family. Mr. D. notes a beating for reading the Bible; observing Jews receiving more severe treatment; his children helping him become “normal” after the war, despite nightmares and psychological issues; and reluctance to share some of his memories, even with his children.

Author/Creator
D., Bernard, 1915-
Published
Brussels, Belgium : Fondation Auschwitz, 1994
Interview Date
January 26, 1994.
Locale
Belgium
France
Gerponville (France)
Brussels (Belgium)
Linz (Austria)
Reims (France)
Tournai (Belgium)
Language
French
Copies
2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Bernard D. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2993). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
 
View in Yale University Library Catalog: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/4289955
Record last modified: 2018-05-29 11:58:00
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4289955