Celine P. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 2537
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Celine P., who was born in Zgierz, Poland, one of four children. She recalls her family's affluence; visiting relatives in Warsaw; a close and large extended family; attending a Polish school; antisemitic harassment; German invasion in September 1939; her father's flight east; exemption from deportation due to an uncle sending foreign visas to her, her mother, and siblings; assistance from a former nanny who worked for the Gestapo; transport to Belgium via Berlin; reunion with their uncle who had arranged their emigration; traveling to Paris where "everything was back to normal"; moving to Montrabe?; attending a Catholic school; German invasion; her mother's death from cancer in June 1942; placement in a convent with assistance from her uncle's associate; a Jewish organization supplying them with false papers; their transfer to northern France in 1944; living in a home for children whose families had tuberculosis; liberation by United States troops in August 1944; returning to Paris; resuming her studies; difficulties concentrating after confirmation of her father's death; emigration to the United States in 1952; and marriage in 1958. Ms. P. notes many kind French people to whom she attributes her and her family's survival; receiving letters from her father until December 1940; continuing contact with her nanny; and visiting Poland in 1989.

Extent and Medium

3 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

Subjects

Places

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.