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Herman L. Holocaust testimony (HVT-4289) interviewed by Rik Hemmerijckx,

Oral History | Digitized | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-4289

Overview

Summary: Videotape testimony of Herman L., a non-Jew, who was born in Tienen, Belgium in 1919. He recalls his father's commitment to Marxism; his parents' divorce when he was thirteen; attending schools and universities in Brussels, Charleroi, Ghent, and Cologne; observing persecution of Jews in Germany; his mother assisting Jewish refugees; German invasion; biking to France; encountering his father; going with him to Limoges, Dijon, and Paris; returning to university in Ghent; arrest in 1943 for communist and union activities; imprisonment in Breendonk; meaningless forced labor; being forced to participate in the group beating to death of a Jewish prisoner who was caught escaping; transfer to prison in Huy; improved conditions; punishment when two men he supervised escaped; release; returning to Brussels; marriage; and his postwar career as a prominent librarian.
Author/Creator: L., Herman, 1919-
Published: Brussels, Belgium : Fondation Auschwitz, 2002
Interview Date: January 21, 2002.
Locale: Belgium
Tienen (Belgium)
Charleroi (Belgium)
Brussels (Belgium)
Ghent (Belgium)
Cologne (Germany)
Limoges (France)
Dijon (France)
Paris (France)
Cite As: Herman L. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-4289). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
Other Authors/Editors: Hemmerijckx, Rik, interviewer.
Notes: This testimony is in Dutch.

Physical Details

Language: Dutch
Copies: 2 copies: Betacam SP dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Physical Description: 1 videorecording (1 hr., 34 min.) : col

Keywords & Subjects

Subjects (Local Yale): Mutual aid.
Postwar experiences.
Subjects: Video tapes. Men. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Belgian. Forced labor. World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities. Concentration camp inmates. Belgium. Tienen (Belgium) Charleroi (Belgium) Brussels (Belgium) Ghent (Belgium) Cologne (Germany) Limoges (France) Dijon (France) Paris (France) Oral histories (document genres) L., Herman,--1919- Breendonk (Concentration camp)

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/6572504
Record last modified:: 2018-05-30 11:45:00
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt6572504

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