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Helen D. Holocaust testimony (HVT-2801) interviewed by Ann Solov Walker,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-2801

Videotape testimony of Helen W., who was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1929. She recounts her parents' divorce when she was about two; living with her paternal grandparents in Prostějov, Czechoslovakia; her father's weekly visits; a close relationship with her non-Jewish governess; attending public school; cordial relations with non-Jews; celebrating Easter and Christmas as "national" holidays; attending synagogue; a close relationship with her uncle; her father moving funds out of Austria after the Anschluss and obtaining documents for the United States for himself and her; her grandparents refusing to let her accompany him; German occupation; her family hiding valuables from Nazi searches; difficulty obtaining documents to leave for the United States; her uncle and governess taking her to Prague to obtain them; her governess accompanying her to Bremerhaven; and the captain handing her over to her father upon landing. Ms. W. discusses writing her memories at age twelve; her uncle surviving concentration camps; futile efforts to locate her governess; visiting Prostějov with her husband in 1985; and seeing her mother once (she was in Canada during the war, remarried, and returned to Vienna).

Author/Creator
D., Helen, 1929-
Published
Peabody, Mass. : Holocaust Center of the Jewish Federation of the North Shore, 1994
Interview Date
November 16, 1994.
Locale
Vienna (Austria)
Austria
Prostějov (Czech Republic)
Prague (Czech Republic)
Bremerhaven (Germany)
Language
English
Copies
2 copies: 3/4 in. master; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Helen D. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2801), Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
 
View in Yale University Library Catalog: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/4297073
Record last modified: 2018-06-04 13:25:00
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4297073