Jacques F. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Jacques F., who was born in Paris, France in 1938. He reflects upon how few memories he has of his childhood, among them he and his younger sister living with a Catholic family on a farm outside Paris, probably in 1942; the father of the family hiding with Mr. F. and his sister in a ditch and seeing soldiers and dogs; associating with nuns; Allied soldiers parading through town throwing candy; living happily in an OSE home near Normandy from 1946 to 1947 and in Taverny from 1948; and first learning he was Jewish there. He recounts being adopted with his sister by an American couple in 1948; being circumcised then; losing touch with the Catholic family and relatives in Paris; emigration to the United States; and his subsequent life. He describes his decision in 1982 to learn about his early life and the fate of his parents; a French cousin who provided information; visiting the Catholic family with whom he had lived from 1941 to 1946; organizing a child survivors' group; meeting other OSE children at a 1983 survivor gathering; and the emotional impact of discovering his parents' names in Serge Klarsfeld's book, Memorial to the Jews Deported from France.
Extent and Medium
2 videocassettes
Conditions Governing Access
This testimony is open with permission.
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Copyright has been transferred to the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies. Use of this testimony requires permission of the Fortunoff Video Archive.
Rules and Conventions
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Process Info
compiled by Staff of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
People
- F., Jacques, -- 1938-
Corporate Bodies
- World Union OSE.
Subjects
- Holocaust survivors.
- Men.
- Video tapes.
- Postwar effects.
- Postwar experiences.
- Child survivors.
- Hiding.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Brothers and sisters.
- Foster parents.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Adoptees.
- Identification (Religion)
- Orphanages -- France.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Children.
Places
- Taverny (France)
- Normandy (France)
- France.
- Paris (France)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat