Vivette S. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Vivette S., who was born in Paris, France in 1919. She recalls her family life with its secular, socialist and French emphases; participating in the Front Populaire, including traveling to Spain; German invasion in May 1940; fleeing to Orle?ans, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, and Vichy; attending university in Toulouse; joining her family in Cannes in 1941; learning about OSE in Montpellier; working for OSE in Rivesaltes rescuing children; a Hanukkah celebration there; leaving in June 1942, having rescued more than 400 children; marriage to the OSE director in Marseille in October; moving to Limoges in March 1943; working for UGIF; her daughter's birth in July; her father's deportation (he did not return); living in Chambe?ry using false papers; assisting the Resistance; her husband's arrest; fleeing to Lyon after leaving her daughter with a priest; her husband's escape from a deportee train; hiding with him in Paris, Valence, and Aix-en-Provence; liberation; and directing the OSE office in Chambe?ry, reuniting hidden children with surviving parents. Mrs. S. discusses rescue operations; the effect of separating children from their parents; her French identity; 'holes' in her memory (a protective mechanism); organizing the OSE archives since 1983; and focusing on positive aspects of her experience with her children.

4 videocassettes