Lore L. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Lore L., who was born in 1924 in Hagen, Germany. She recalls life in a wealthy home; her father's strong sense of German identity and pride in his World War I service; increasing antisemitism; her parents' reluctance to leave; Kristallnacht; expulsion from school; confiscation of their assets; futile attempts to emigrate; attending dressmaking school in Dortmund; her desire to hide the compulsory yellow star; forced labor; transport to an assembly site in Dortmund in 1942; travel by cattle train to Litome?r?ice; and the march to Terezi?n. Mrs. L. decribes her emotional numbness; the importance of her parents' presence; inmates helping each other less as conditions worsened; the sham improvements for a Red Cross inspection; an SS guard saving her father from deportation; and liberation by Soviet troops in May 1945. She remembers the city of Hagen sending for them; her own fear of returning to Germany resulting in her parents' decision not to return; living in the Deggendorf displaced persons camp; and emigration to the United States. Mrs. L. notes chronic health problems related to her experiences and reluctance to discuss her experiences with those who cannot understand, including her children. She shows documents and photos.
Extent and Medium
2 videocassettes (3/4" u-matic)
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
- L., Lore, -- 1924-
Corporate Bodies
- Deggendorf (Displaced persons camp)
- Theresienstadt (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Postwar experiences.
- Postwar effects.
- Mutual aid.
- Survivor-child relations.
- Crystal Night, 1938.
- Antisemitism -- Prewar.
- Child survivors.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Mothers and daughters.
- Fathers and daughters.
- Refugee camps.
- Kristallnacht, 1938.
- Women.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Video tapes.
- Concentration camps -- Psychological aspects.
- Forced labor.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Children.
Places
- Germany.
- Dortmund (Germany)
- Hagen (Arnsberg, Germany)
- LitomeĚrĚice (Czech Republic)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat