Victor M. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Victor M., a non-Jew, who was born in Brussels, Belgium in 1925. He recalls his family's strong patriotism; German invasion on May 10, 1940; fleeing with his father and uncle to Versailles, Limoges, and other French cities; returning to Brussels in mid-August; joining the Resistance; passing university entrance exams; arrest with others in his group in August 1944; incarceration in St. Gilles; receiving Red Cross parcels; transfer to Neuengamme; slave labor outside the camp; remaining with his friends; transfer in September 1944 to Schandelah; his privileged position as a translator; solidarity among small groups according to nationality; homosexual advances from kapos; working in the kitchen; providing food to friends; train evacuation in April 1945 to a camp in eastern Germany; prisoner rivalries among nationality groups; liberation by United States troops; staying briefly in Ludwigslust; repatriation to Brussels; and reunion with his parents. Mr. M. reads passages from a friend's camp journal and notes that, when arrested, he and his friends expected the war to end soon and were unaware of what awaited them.
Extent and Medium
3 videocassettes
Conditions Governing Access
This testimony cannot be used during the donor's lifetime.
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
- M., Victor, -- 1925-
Corporate Bodies
- International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
- Neuengamme (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Resistance.
- Mutual aid.
- Postwar experiences.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons, German.
- Forced labor.
- Concentration camps -- Sociological aspects.
- Sexual harassment.
- Men.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Belgian.
- Concentration camp inmates.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Belgium.
- Video tapes.
Places
- Belgium.
- Brussels (Belgium)
- Versailles (France)
- Limoges (France)
- Schandelah (Germany : Concentration camp)
- Ludwigslust (Germany : Landkreis)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat