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Walter R. Holocaust testimony (HVT-3466) interviewed by Elisabeth Inchusta and Massimo Ianetta,

Oral History | Digitized | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-3466

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    Overview

    Summary
    Videotape testimony of Walter R., a non-Jew, who was born in Hamburg, Germany to Belgian parents in 1924. He recounts their move to Antwerp when he was three; his father's death; his mother's remarriage; housing German refugees; German invasion; mobilization; biking to Bordeaux with other conscripts; returning home; leaving for England with his friend Paul; traveling to Perpignan via Nantes, Bordeaux, and Narbonne; arrest by Germans while attempting to illegally cross the Spanish border; incarceration in Perpignan; transfer to Compiègne; slave labor in Paris uncovering unexploded bombs; transfer to Neuengamme as a political prisoner; separation from Paul upon transfer to Watenstedt; slave labor in a munitions factory; Paul's arrival; receiving Red Cross packages; hospitalization; remaining as a secretary and interpreter; public executions; working as the kommandant's secretary and interpreter; sharing extra food with Paul; transfer to Ravensbrück; receiving Red Cross packages; a death march two weeks later; assuming Paul was killed when he “disappeared”; liberation by United States troops; returning to Belgium; and reunion with his family and Paul, who had survived. Mr. R. discusses the prisoner hierarchy and national/ethnic divisions; the importance to his survival of being young and not losing hope; sharing some of his experiences with his children; nightmares of the camps, particularly since retirement; visiting Neuengamme; and membership in a survivor organization. He shows a spoon and notebook from the camps, and a Soviet newspaper from VE Day.
    Author/Creator
    R., Walter, 1924-
    Published
    Brussels, Belgium : Fondation Auschwitz, 1995
    Interview Date
    February 13, 1995.
    Locale
    Germany
    Hamburg (Germany)
    Antwerp (Belgium)
    Bordeaux (Aquitaine, France)
    Nantes (France)
    Narbonne (France)
    Perpignan (France)
    Paris (France)
    Cite As
    Walter R. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-3466). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
    Other Authors/Editors
    Inchusta, Elisabeth, interviewer.
    Ianetta, Massimo, interviewer.
    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 (3 hr., 21 min.) : col

    Keywords & Subjects

    Subjects (Local Yale)
    Mutual aid.
    Hospitals in concentration camps.
    Postwar effects.
    Postwar experiences.
    Survivor-child relations.

    Administrative Notes

    Link to Yale University Library Catalog:
    http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/4291795
    Record last modified:
    2018-06-04 13:26:00
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/hvt4291795

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