Ruth H. Holocaust testimony (HVT-1704) interviewed by Sandra Rosenstock and Lilian Sicular

Videotape testimony of Ruth H., who was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1928, the only child of an affluent family. She recalls a beautiful life; German occupation in 1939; her father's disappearance; living with her mother and grandmother; her aunt's suicide upon receiving deportation notice; their deportation to Theresienstadt in 1942; extreme hunger; their transfer to Auschwitz in 1944; separation from her grandmother; assignment to the family camp; slave labor clearing bombing rubble in Hamburg; clandestinely receiving food from French POWs; a death march to Bergen-Belsen; liberation; transfer to a hospital in Sweden; hearing from a cousin in New York; emigration to join her; her mother's death (she never fully recovered); marriage; her daughter's birth; and divorce. Ms. H. discusses the limitations of words to describe their suffering; surviving due to her mother; not sharing her experiences after the war; nightmares; her daughter's former lack of interest in her story and more current interest; a recent trip to Prague with her daughter; and continuing fondness for Prague.