Marie A. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Marie A., who was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1914. She recalls teacher training in Brussels; working against fascism through Communist organizations; marriage to a fellow organizer; hiding organization members including Maurice Thorez; her daughter's birth in 1938; Resistance activities; arrest in May 1943; imprisonment in St. Gilles; transfer to Germany in October; imprisonment in Essen and Mesum; trial in Essen resulting in a four-year prison sentence; transfer to prison in Kreuzburg and Jauer; and escape with two friends with assistance from a Polish civilian. She describes soliciting help from prisoners of war; being fired upon by Hitler Youth; traveling to Plzen?; sabotaging work in a factory in Marklissa until May 8, 1945; encountering Soviet troops; briefly living in an UNRRA camp; returning to Belgium at the end of May; learning her husband had perished; and reunion with her daughter in Switzerland. Mrs. A. discusses relations between different ethnic and socio-economic groups in prisons and her state of mind during this period.
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
- Thorez, Maurice, -- 1900-1964.
- A., Marie, -- 1914-
Corporate Bodies
- United Nation Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Belgium.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Belgian.
- Escapes.
- Forced labor.
- Video tapes.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Women.
- Sabotage.
- Prisons -- Sociological aspects.
- Prisons -- Psychological aspects.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons, German.
- Husband -- Death.
- Resistance.
Places
- Kreuzburg (Germany)
- Brussels (Belgium)
- Antwerp (Belgium)
- PlzenĚ (Czech Republic)
- Marklissa (Germany)
- Mesum (Germany)
- Essen (Germany)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat