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Brigitte R. Holocaust testimony (HVT-3402) interviewed by Stefanie Brauer and Maximilian Preisler,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-3402

Videotape testimony of Brigitte R., who was born in Dresden, Germany in 1928. She recalls her mother (she was Jewish) had been baptized, as had she (her father's family was Christian); his committed membership in the Nazi Party; her parents' divorce in 1934; antisemitic harassment in school, while at the same time other students and teachers were supportive; having to move to “Jewish” housing; destruction of Jewish property on Kristallnacht; her mother's hospitalization for tuberculosis; her maternal uncle's arrest and release upon promising to leave Germany (a relative in the United States sponsored him); their futile efforts to emigrate; friendship with Victor Klemperer, a well-known philologist; her mother's arrest; securing her release with assistance from her father's friend who was in the SS; her mother avoiding deportation when Dresden was bombed; moving to Blumenau; liberation by Soviet troops; and not being able to emigrate to the U.S. due to her mother's tuberculosis. Ms. R. discusses feeling European, not German; belonging to the Jewish congregation due to her sense of shared history, not religious beliefs; distrust of men due to her experiences; a brief marriage; moving with her mother to Berlin; her mother's continuing health problems until her death; recurring nightmares; and antisemitic incidents.

Author/Creator
R., Brigitte, 1928-
Published
Potsdam, Germany : Moses Mendelssohn Zentrum für europäisch-jüdische Studien, Universität Potsdam, 1995
Interview Date
June 26, 1995.
Locale
Germany
Dresden (Germany)
Blumenau (Germany : Amt)
Language
German
Copies
2 copies: Betacam SP dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Brigitte R. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-3402). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
 
View in Yale University Library Catalog: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/4291604
Record last modified: 2018-06-04 13:25:00
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4291604