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Hélène A. Holocaust testimony (HVT-4244) interviewed by Michel Rosenfeldt and Daniel Weyssow,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-4244

Videotape testimony of Hélène A., who was born in Sevluš, Czechoslovakia (presently Vynohradiv, Ukraine) in 1926, one of seven children. She recounts a happy childhood; attending Czech public school; antisemitic harassment; Hungarian occupation in March 1939; her parents sending her with a sister to Budapest in 1942; working for a tailor; anti-Jewish restrictions; a Hungarian soldier from their hometown assisting them; obtaining false papers; hiding in their apartment during Allied bombings; denouncement; arrest and interrogation; transfer to Gestapo custody; deportation to Kistarcsa; release; assistance from the Jewish community; returning to Budapest; hiding in several places, including an orphanage, a Jewish hospital, and a cellar; her sister registering them as non-Jewish refugees (they received legal papers as non-Jews); renting a home in Szomor; her future husband hiding with them; billeting German soldiers; liberation by Soviet troops; living with a farmer; avoiding rape by Soviet soldiers; traveling to Szolnok, Debrecen, then Uz︠h︡horod; reunion with her sister who had been in Auschwitz; returning to Budapest; working at a Jewish orphanage; her sister Esther A.'s return; moving to Prague; emigration with her three sisters to Belgium; marriage in 1952; and the births of four children. Ms. A. discusses nightmares resulting from her experiences and not sharing her experiences with her children.

Author/Creator
A., Hélène, 1926-
Published
Brussels, Belgium : Fondation Auschwitz, 1999
Interview Date
November 29 and 30, 1999.
Locale
Hungary
Budapest
Czechoslovakia
Vynohradiv (Ukraine)
Budapest (Hungary)
Szomor (Hungary)
Szolnok (Hungary)
Debrecen (Hungary)
Uz︠h︡horod (Ukraine)
Prague (Czech Republic)
Language
French
Copies
2 copies: Betacam SP dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Hélène A. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-4244). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
 
View in Yale University Library Catalog: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/6254338
Record last modified: 2018-06-04 13:27:00
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt6254338