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Helga S. Holocaust testimony (HVT-2635) interviewed by Kathy Strochlic and Bonnie Dwork,

Oral History | Digitized | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-2635

Overview

Summary: Videotape testimony of Helga S. who was born in Berlin, Germany in 1932. She recounts Kristallnacht; being sent on a children's transport to England with her brother in March 1939; living in Nottingham with relatives; moving to Oxford after the war began to avoid German bombing; mistreatment by her host family; living with an aunt in London; attending boarding school; her brother's accidental death in 1942; her mother's subsequent breakdown while interned in France; her father's emigration to Shanghai; reuniting with her parents in Paris in 1947; their inability to connect emotionally ("we were three pillars of misery"); beatings by her father; and their emigration to the United States in 1953. Mrs. S. discusses her pervasive separation anxiety and difficulties raising her children due to her traumatic experiences as a child. She shows photographs.
Author/Creator: S., Helga, 1932-
Published: New York, N.Y. : A Living Memorial to the Holocaust-Museum of Jewish Heritage, 1993
Interview Date: May 24, 1993.
Locale: Berlin (Germany)
Nottingham (England)
Germany
Oxford (England)
London (England)
Paris (France)
Cite As: Helga S. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2635). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
Other Authors/Editors: Strochlic, Kathy, interviewer.
Dwork, Bonnie, interviewer.

Physical Details

Language: English
Copies: 2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Physical Description: 1 videorecording (1 hr., 15 min.) : col

Keywords & Subjects

Subjects (Local Yale): Child survivors.
Crystal Night, 1938.
Postwar experiences.
Postwar effects.
Survivor-child relations.
Subjects: Holocaust survivors. Video tapes. Women. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Jewish. World War, 1939-1945--Jews--Rescue. Kindertransports (Rescue operations) World War, 1939-1945--Children. Kristallnacht, 1938. Jews--Migrations. Jewish refugees. Berlin (Germany) Nottingham (England) Germany. Oxford (England) London (England) Paris (France) Oral histories (document genres) S., Helga,--1932-

Administrative Notes

Holder of Originals: Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
Special Collection: Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies

Link to Yale University Library Catalog:: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/4296939
Record last modified:: 2018-06-04 13:23:00
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4296939

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