Madeleine H. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Madeleine H., who was born in Ho?dmezo?va?sa?rhely, Hungary in 1933. She recounts her brother's birth when she was eleven; attending a Jewish primary and public secondary school; her father's draft into a Hungarian slave labor battalion; German invasion in March 1944; deportation with her grandmother, mother, and brother to the Szeged ghetto, then weeks later to Strasshof without her grandmother; observing a woman give birth; transfer to an Austrian slave labor camp; watching her brother while her mother worked; begging food from locals; discussing food with the other children; escaping with her mother and brother in April 1945; liberation by Soviet troops; walking to the Hungarian border, begging en route; assistance from the Joint in Budapest; returning to Ho?dmezo?va?sa?rhely; a joyful reunion with her father; antisemitic harassment in school; observing survivors conduct a funeral for soap purportedly made from humans (a wartime myth) and reading survivor accounts; illegally leaving to emigrate to Israel in 1949; extreme homesickness; Hungary promising returnees amnesty; returning home; being forbidden to attend school; escaping again in 1956; living in France; learning from the Red Cross her parents and brother had escaped to Israel; studying in London; and meeting her husband there. Ms. H. notes her father never discussed his war experiences; feeling betrayed by Hungary; and sharing her experiences with her son. She shows photographs and documents.

2 videocassettes