Betsy H. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Betsy H., who was born in Hoogeveen, Netherlands, in 1917, the oldest of four children. Mrs. H. tells of working in a Jewish home for deprived children; her indifference regarding German events; German invasion; living with a Jewish family in Amsterdam; the last contact with her family (they were all deported); hiding in Rijnsburg; meeting her future husband who was hiding to avoid forced labor; joining a resistance group; carrying messages under a false name throughout the country; and witnessing the daily heroism of ordinary people. She describes her arrest with the resistance group; disposing of the documents she had been carrying to shield the identities of resistance members thus saving their lives; transport through Vught to Ravensbru?ck; forced labor in Dachau; liberation; returning through Switzerland and Paris to the Netherlands; and marriage in 1945. She discusses her affection for friends she made in Dachau; their annual meetings; her role in the resistance; and reluctance to talk about the past with her daughter.
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
- H., Betsy, -- 1917-
Corporate Bodies
- Vught (Concentration camp)
- Dachau (Concentration camp)
- RavensbruĚck (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Survivor-child relations.
- Postwar effects.
- Postwar experiences.
- Hiding.
- False papers.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Resistance.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Netherlands.
- Friendship.
- Concentration camps -- Psychological aspects.
- Forced labor.
- Video tapes.
- Women.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Holocaust survivors.
Places
- Amsterdam (Netherlands)
- Rijnsburg (Netherlands)
- Netherlands.
- Hoogeveen (Netherlands)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat