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Oral history interview with Maurice Benadon

Oral History | Digitized | Accession Number: 1995.A.1281.1 | RG Number: RG-50.146.0001

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    Oral history interview with Maurice Benadon

    Overview

    Interview Summary
    Maurice Benadon, born to Jewish parents in 1914, describes his childhood growing up in Thessaloniki, Greece, where his father worked in textiles; being one of four children; attending a Jewish-run school, where he learned French as a foundational language; moving with his family to France amidst the crisis (both economic and political) in Greece; his sister marrying in 1939 and Benadon working with her husband; becoming a communist at age 16; his father dying in October 1941; the German advance on Paris and fleeing to Côté d’Azur (Nice) with his mother and little sister; his brother, who was in Lyon; the Nazis arriving in Nice and rounding up the Jews; going to Lyon to join resistance efforts against the Germans; being stopped by the PPF de Doriot (affiliated with the Gestapo); being taken to Montluc Prison (in Lyon) and interrogated in the Jewish barracks, where he met André Fossard and Marcel Dassault; being transferred to Drancy then to Auschwitz on July 29 1944; arriving in Birkenau and seeing women and children being sent directly to the ovens; being taken to the line on the left where he was shaved and tattooed (Mr. Benadon’s number was B 3682); remaining in Auschwitz until October 1944; an organization of resistors in the camp who wouldn’t let him join because he did not speak Yiddish; being left on his own in the camp; not having the skill that could get him double rations; being placed among the Muslims in Auschwitz; being terribly weak at liberation; losing all of his teeth; how he has tried to forget most of his time at the camp; a typical daily schedule in Auschwitz; being evacuated towards East Prussia in October 1944; being beaten violently by an S.S. officer and losing a piece of his ear; suffering from cancer of the ear in 1958; the advancement of the Russians and being evacuated towards an aviation camp; suffering from dysentery and typhus; being evacuated to a hospital camp; being liberated by the French Army in 1945; being put in a German hospital in Speyer; regaining his strength and returning to Paris to the Hotel Lutetia where he was decontaminated; returning to his house; his girlfriend, who had given birth 10 days before his arrest; and his desire at that time to see his family, his child, and Thessaloniki again.
    Interviewee
    Maurice Benadon
    Interviewer
    Collette Zumstein
    Date
    interview:  1989 November 14

    Physical Details

    Language
    French
    Extent
    1 videocassette (VHS) : sound, color ; 1/2 in..

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
    Conditions on Use
    No restrictions on use

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Holder of Originals
    Association Memorie et Documents
    Provenance
    Association Memorie et Documents conducted the interview with Maurice Benadon on November 14, 1989. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum received the tape of the interview from the Association Memorie et Documents in January 1995.
    Record last modified:
    2023-11-16 08:16:51
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn507929

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