Fernand E. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 2988
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Fernand E., a non-Jew, who was born in Malines (Mechelen), Belgium in 1923. He describes fleeing to France at the German invasion; returning home three weeks later; involvement with the underground press; arrest; imprisonment in Antwerp, St. Gilles, and Bochum; forced labor in a munitions factory; sabotaging the work; a trial in Essen; being sentenced to forced labor; transfer to Esterwegen in May 1943; hospitalization; a doctor who saved his life; forced labor in Hamburg and Darmstadt; transfer to Natzweiler-Struthof; concealing the fact that several prisoners were Jews; transfer to Sachsenhausen, Allach, Asslar, and Scho?mberg; escaping with friends; receiving assistance from a German farmer; joining French troops for two months; and repatriation. Mr E. discusses ethnic and national group relations in the camps; details of camp life, including removing gold dental work from corpses; frequent prisoner conversations about food resulting from their starvation; testifying in a trial of Natzweiler administrators; participating in a Natzweiler survivor group; and the importance of maintaining democracy and the ideals of the homeland.

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

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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.