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Hudeza P. Holocaust testimony (HVT-3447) interviewed by Henri Borlant and Annette Wieviorka,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-3447

Videotape testimony of Hudeza P., who was born in Poland in 1910. She recalls being orphaned and raised by extended family; emigrating to join a brother in Paris in May 1930; living with an uncle in Les Lilas; marriage in 1938; her daughter's birth in 1941; visiting her in-laws in Vigneux-sur-Seine; arrest and imprisonment in Paris; a guard allowing her to write a warning to her husband (she reads it); deportation to Drancy, then Auschwitz/Birkenau in March 1944; remaining with a friend; slave labor; beatings resulting in the loss of her teeth; one prisoner lighting Friday night candles; the pervasive smell of burning flesh; public hanging of an escapee; assistance from other prisoners on the death march to Ravensbrück, then Neustadt; liberation by Soviet troops; recuperating in Belgium with assistance from the Red Cross; returning to Paris in May 1945 to Hotel Lutetia; and reunion with her daughter, who was with her in-laws and didn't remember her. Ms. P. discusses relations between prisoner groups; envying those who did not have children to worry about; continuing closeness with her camp friend; abhorrence of nudity and never allowing herself to be hungry as a result of her experiences; and her daughter's interest in her experiences.

Author/Creator
P., Hudeza, 1910-
Published
Paris, France : Témoignages pour mémoire, 1996
Interview Date
January 26, 1996.
Locale
Poland
Paris (France)
Les Lilas (France)
Vigneux-sur-Seine (France)
Belgium
Language
French
Copies
2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Hudeza P. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-3447). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.