Ruth N. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Ruth N., who was born in Magdeburg, Germany in 1928. She recounts moving to Swinemünde (now Świnoujście, Poland) with her family in 1932; her father's brief arrest in 1934; moving to Stettin (now Szczecin, Poland), then to Italy in 1935; living in Novara and Milan; their illegal entry into France in March 1939; brief arrest in Menton; attending Catholic schools in Lyon; German invasion; concealing their Jewish identity; illegally entering Switzerland with her mother and siblings in October 1942 (her father followed); internment in Geneva; transfer to a children's home (she seldom saw her parents or siblings); joining her parents in Lyon in 1945; working in a Jewish orphanage near Paris; returning to Italy with her family in 1947; living in Florence; and emigration to the United States in 1952. Mrs. N. discusses the pervasive secrecy and fear during her childhood resulting in distant relations among the family members and her inability to form close bonds; until recently not thinking about the past because of the pain it caused; and the impact on raising her daughter.

1 videocassette