- Summary
- Videotape testimony of André R., a twin, who was born in Lyon, France in 1924, one of four children. Mr. R. recounts his mother was Jewish and his father the child of a Jew and Christian; living in Paris; German occupation; being sent with his twin brother to live with a Christian family in Lyon in 1942; his parents and sisters joining them; his father's arrest in May 1943 for Resistance work (he never saw him again); his Resistance activities; arrest with his family in May 1944; incarceration in Montluc prison; transfer to Drancy in June; deportation in July to Auschwitz/Birkenau; separation from his mother and sisters (only one sister survived); transfer with his brother to Buna/Monowitz; slave labor outside the camp; local Poles giving them food; singing French songs to raise their spirits; brief hospitalization for surgery; a public hanging; a death march, with his brother, in January 1945 to Gleiwitz; traveling in open railcars to Buchenwald; contracting dysentery; liberation; hospitalization in Germany and Nancy; reunion with his sister; living in Paris; and he and his siblings marrying and having children immediately to start new lives. Mr. R. discusses relations between nationality groups in concentration camps; nightmares and obsessions resulting from his experiences; not discussing his experiences with his wife, children, or siblings; and his strong Jewish identity, despite lack of belief. He displays his paintings depicting his experiences and notes the therapeutic effects of having done them.
- Author/Creator
- R., André, 1924-
- Published
- Paris, France : Témoignages pour mémoire, 1995
- Interview Date
- February 9, 1995.
- Locale
- France
Lyon (France)
Paris (France)
Nancy (France)
- Cite As
- André R. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-3225). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
- Other Authors/Editors
- Trigano, Hélène, interviewer.
Drame, Claudine, interviewer.
- Notes
-
This testimony is in French.
