Brigitte R. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Brigitte R., who was born in Dresden, Germany in 1928. She recalls her mother (she was Jewish) had been baptized, as had she (her father's family was Christian); his committed membership in the Nazi Party; her parents' divorce in 1934; antisemitic harassment in school, while at the same time other students and teachers were supportive; having to move to "Jewish" housing; destruction of Jewish property on Kristallnacht; her mother's hospitalization for tuberculosis; her maternal uncle's arrest and release upon promising to leave Germany (a relative in the United States sponsored him); their futile efforts to emigrate; friendship with Victor Klemperer, a well-known philologist; her mother's arrest; securing her release with assistance from her father's friend who was in the SS; her mother avoiding deportation when Dresden was bombed; moving to Blumenau; liberation by Soviet troops; and not being able to emigrate to the U.S. due to her mother's tuberculosis. Ms. R. discusses feeling European, not German; belonging to the Jewish congregation due to her sense of shared history, not religious beliefs; distrust of men due to her experiences; a brief marriage; moving with her mother to Berlin; her mother's continuing health problems until her death; recurring nightmares; and antisemitic incidents.

2 videocassettes