Ruth G. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Ruth G., who was born in Essen, Germany in 1925, an only child. She recalls a comfortable, happy life until Hitler came to power; anti-Jewish restrictions, including expulsion from school; her father's emigration to Johannesburg in 1936; she and her mother joining him in 1937; moving to Paris in 1938; the outbreak of war in 1939; her father's incarceration as an enemy alien; moving to Montargis; returning to Paris; her father's release upon enlistment in the Foreign Legion in 1940; German invasion; fleeing to Bordeaux, then Toulouse; reunion with her father; transport by French police to Barbazan in winter 1941; living in a "forced residence"; being forced to leave in 1942; getting off the train in Tauves; traveling to Bagne?res-de-Bigorre where her uncle lived; hiding with him, his family, and other Jews; being protected by the local police commissioner, a Resistance member; fleeing during a Resistance battle; being hidden by peasants; returning to Bagne?res-de-Bigorre; liberation; returning to Paris; marriage to an American in 1948; her daughter's birth; emigration to the United States in 1952; and the births of two more children. Ms. G. discusses her depression after liberation; regret at having no education as a child (she attended college as an adult); persistent emotional pain; hoping her children learn more about her experiences; and attending college. She shows photographs and her artwork, which is related to her experiences.
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
- G., Ruth, -- 1925-
Subjects
- Fathers and daughters.
- Mothers and daughters.
- Child survivors.
- Family.
- Jews -- Migrations.
- Jewish children in the Holocaust.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- France.
- Refugees, Jewish.
- Postwar experiences.
- Postwar effects.
- Survivor-child relations.
- Hiding.
- Antisemitism -- Prewar.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Mutual aid.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Children.
- Women.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Video tapes.
Places
- Montargis (France)
- Toulouse (France)
- Bordeaux (Aquitaine, France)
- Barbazan (France)
- Germany.
- Essen (Germany)
- Johannesburg (South Africa)
- Paris (France)
- Tauves (France)
- BagneĚres-de-Bigorre (France)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat