Advanced Search

Learn About The Holocaust

Special Collections

My Saved Research

Login

Register

Help

Skip to main content

Oral history interview with Helena Leefsma

Oral History | Digitized | Accession Number: 2000.91.35 | RG Number: RG-50.493.0035

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 Helena Leefsma

    Overview

    Interview Summary
    Helena Leefsma (m. Van Hasselt), born on June 27, 1928 in Groningen, Netherlands, discusses being the youngest of four daughters; her father’s work trading cattle; having a very loving family and happy childhood; living in a very friendly community; the German invasion of Holland in May 1940; their friends who got papers to go to the United States before the Germans invaded; her father’s reluctance to leave Holland because of his business and family (they didn’t think Holland would experience what was taking place in Germany); the restrictions placed on Jews; her father boarding up their windows every evening because rocks were thrown at them; the arrest of her father in May 1942 and never seeing him again (he perished in Auschwitz); her oldest sister Selma, who was part of the resistance and urged their family to go into hiding in August 1942; staying with her mother throughout the war as they hid in many homes in Holland; the arrest of Selma in 1943 (she died in 1943 in Buchenwald); the death of her sister Henrietta in 1943; being liberated May 5, 1945; returning with her mother to their home in Groningen; getting married in 1948; and immigrating to the United States in December 1974.
    Interviewee
    Helena Leefsma
    Interviewer
    Dr. Richard J. Prystowsky
    Date
    interview:  1993 February 07

    Physical Details

    Language
    English
    Extent
    2 videocassettes (U-Matic) : sound, color ; 3/4 in..

    Rights & Restrictions

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

    Keywords & Subjects

    Personal Name
    Leefsma, Helena.

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    Richard J. Prystowsky on behalf of the Anti-Defamation League, Orange County, California, conducted the interview with Helena Leefsma on February 7, 1993. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum received the copy of the interview from the Anti-Defamation League, Orange County, California on May 3, 2000.
    Record last modified:
    2023-11-16 08:56:11
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn512020

    Download & Licensing

    In-Person Research

    Contact Us