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René B. Holocaust testimony (HVT-4011) interviewed by Michel Rosenfeldt and Hessel Daalder,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-4011

Videotape testimony of René B., a Roman Catholic, who was born in Belgium in 1916. He recalls apprenticeship as a butcher; military service for a year beginning in 1936 in Tournai; marriage; military recall in 1939; capture by the Germans in Louvain; transport to a POW camp in Cologne; forced labor doing farm work; transfer to several POW camps; separation of Flemish and Walloon Belgian prisoners; removal of Jewish prisoners (they did not know their fate); receiving packages from the United States, England, and the Red Cross; liberation by Soviet troops; returning home via Odesa, Gdańsk, and Marseille; a warm welcome; divorce and remarriage; excommunication due to his divorce; joining the socialist party; and working as a rural constable. Mr. B. notes speaking freely about his experiences; learning of concentration camps after the war; continued hostility toward Germans; and his strong Belgian patriotism.

Author/Creator
B., René, 1916-
Published
Brussels, Belgium : Fondation Auschwitz, 1995
Interview Date
September 20, 1995.
Locale
Germany
Belgium
Tournai (Belgium)
Louvain (Belgium)
Odesa (Ukraine)
Gdańsk (Poland)
Marseille (France)
Language
French
Copies
2 copies: Betacam SP dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
René B. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-4011). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
 
View in Yale University Library Catalog: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/4585663
Record last modified: 2018-05-30 11:33:00
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4585663