Martin D. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Martin D., a non-Jew and only child, who was born in Herstal, Belgium in 1920. He recalls a happy childhood; moving to Brussels in about 1927; attending university; German invasion; traveling to Bredene, intending to enlist; returning to Brussels; continuing university; joining the Resistance; distributing Resistance newspapers; directing a group in Mons; traveling to Lie?ge; arrest; incarceration in St. Gilles in October 1941; torture during interrogations (he suffers from the consequences to the present time); transfer in January 1942 to a prison in Germany, in September to Bochum, and in 1943 to Hameln; forced labor; transfer in February 1944 to Esterwegen; transfer to Graz prison, then Dachau; assignment to the "Nacht und Nebel" barrack; a fellow prisoner hiding him in the infirmary for more than two months so he would not be selected; transfer to Kaufbeuren, then Allach; being chosen as a member of the international prisoner committee that liberated Allach; the arrival of United States troops; returning to Brussels; reunion with his family; assistance from the Red Cross; continuing his education; and his career as an academic and scientist. Mr. D. discusses the camp prisoner hierarchy; the physical and psychic impact of starvation; not knowing the person he was in 1938; and reluctance to share details of his experiences with his children.
Extent and Medium
8 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
- D., Martin, -- 1920-
Corporate Bodies
- Dachau (Concentration camp)
- Esterwegen (Concentration camp)
- International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
- Allach (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Postwar effects.
- Postwar experiences.
- Hospitals in concentration camps.
- Mutual aid.
- Survivor-child relations.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons, German.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Belgium.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Belgian.
- Men.
- Resistance.
- Concentration camps -- Sociological aspects.
- Forced labor.
- Concentration camp inmates.
- Video tapes.
Places
- Herstal (Belgium)
- Belgium.
- Mons (Belgium)
- France.
- Bredene (Belgium)
- Brussels (Belgium)
- Kaufbeuren (Germany : Concentration camp)
- LieĚge (Belgium)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat