- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Albert M., a well-known writer, who was born in Tunisia in 1920 to a family of eight children. He recounts the influence of his father's rigor and his mother's laughter, dancing, and singing; speaking Judeo-Arabic; his diverse neighborhood; joining a Marxist youth group that included Arabs and Jews at age twelve; attending a Jewish school which exposed him to French culture; German occupation in November 1942; his uncle being taken hostage; executions and rapes; a German officer forcing his father to make a bag from a piece of Torah scroll; forced labor in concentration camps; harsh conditions including hunger, lice, and humiliating punishments, one of which resulted in his friend's death; escaping with friends; hiding in the woods; liberation by Allied forces in spring 1943; studying in Algeria, then at the Sorbonne after the war; reflecting on his Jewish identity in France; his first book focusing on discrimination and prejudice; marriage to a non-Jew; visiting Israel; and publication of his book, Portrait of a Jew. Mr. M. discusses his Tunisian childhood influencing all his work; writing about his Zionist and anti-colonialist beliefs; positive responses from some Arabs; the influence of other writers and intellectuals on his work; and his refusal to romanticize poverty. He shows documents, objects, and photographs.
- Author/Creator
- M., Albert, 1920-
- Published
- Paris : Words & Images, 2001
- Interview Date
- May 25, 2001.
- Locale
- Tunisia
France
- Cite As
- Albert M. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-4260). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
- Other Authors/Editors
- Sitbon, Claude, interviewer.
- Notes
-
This testimony is in French.
Due to the fact that this testimony contains significant dialogue between the witness and the interviewer, two versions were produced at the time of the taping. One version has the camera focused solely on the witness; the second has two cameras alternating between the witness and the interviewer.
Related publication: Portrait of a Jew. Translated from the French by Elisabeth Abbott. -- New York, Orion Press, c1962.
Related publication: The pillar of salt / Albert Memmi ; [translated by Edouard Roditi]. -- Boston : Beacon Press, c1992.
Related publication: Portrait du colonisé, précédé du portrait du colonisateur / Albert Memmi. -- Paris : Corrêa, c1957.
Related publication: The scorpion; or, The imaginary confession. Translated from the French by Eleanor Levieux. -- New York, Grossman, c1971.
Related publication: Le mirliton du ciel / Albert Memmi. -- Paris : Julliard, c1990.
