Advanced Search

Learn About The Holocaust

Special Collections

My Saved Research

Login

Register

Help

Skip to main content

Oral history interview with Polly Bergtraun

Oral History | Digitized | Accession Number: 1999.A.0122.302 | RG Number: RG-50.477.0302

Search this record's additional resources, such as finding aids, documents, or transcripts.

No results match this search term.
Check spelling and try again.

results are loading

0 results found for “keyward

    Oral history interview with Polly Bergtraun

    Overview

    Interview Summary
    Polly Bergtraun (née Hertz), born in April 1925 in the Hague, Netherlands, describes her parents Alexander Leopold Hertz and Yoland Sophia (Snow); her older sister (Hella) and her twin sister (Dolly); life before the war; attending a private school; being assimilated, nonobservant Jews; rarely confronting antisemitism; trying to get visas to the United States; the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in 1940; having to billet two German officers in their home; being forced from their home and moved to less comfortable quarters; the rise of antisemitism; having to attend a rundown Jewish school and the disappearance of Jewish students over time; her family separating and going into hiding in 1942 under the protection of various Dutch families; spending three years with one family and moving to Bussum, Netherlands with them; reuniting after liberation with her mother and older sister; the death of her twin sister in Auschwitz; getting a job at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; immigrating with her mother to the United States; arriving in New York, NY and moving to San Francisco, CA; her mother's return to the Netherlands; getting married to Eric Bergtraun; having two children; her life in San Francisco; and reconnecting with her Jewish faith.
    Interviewee
    Mrs. Polly Bergtraun
    Interviewer
    Sue Siegel
    Date
    interview:  1996 March 21
    Credit Line
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Jewish Family and Children's Services of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties

    Physical Details

    Language
    English
    Genre/Form
    Oral histories.
    Extent
    1 videocassette (SVHS) : sound, color ; 1/2 in..

    Rights & Restrictions

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

    Keywords & Subjects

    Personal Name
    Bergtraun, Polly, 1925-

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    The Bay Area Holocaust Oral History Project conducted the interview with Polly Bergtraun on March 21, 1996. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum received the tapes of the interview from the Bay Area Holocaust Oral History Project in December 2001.
    Funding Note
    The cataloging of this oral history interview has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
    Record last modified:
    2023-11-16 08:44:39
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn509540

    Additional Resources

    Download & Licensing

    In-Person Research

    Contact Us