Yvonne R. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Yvonne R., who was born in Thessalonikē, Greece in approximately 1929, the oldest of four children. She recounts living in the Baron de Hirsch neighborhood; German invasion; ghettoization; deaths from starvation; deportation to Auschwitz/Birkenau; separation from her family (she never saw her mother or siblings again); slave labor in a textile factory; liquidation of the Zigeunerlager (Gypsy Lager); transfer to Canada Kommando; sorting clothing of murdered Jews; trading "stolen" clothing for food; hiding a friend selected for death; assistance from a Polish, non-Jewish prisoner; reassignment to digging ditches as punishment for "stealing"; transfer to the Union Kommando; assistance from a Greek pharmacist; public hangings; a brief visit with her father (he gave her good shoes); a death march to Ravensbrück; transfer to Malchow; escaping with fifteen others from a death march; hiding in a forest; liberation by Soviet troops; friends being raped by Soviet soldiers; hospitalization in Neubrandenburg; returning home; contact with her father in Italy; preparing for emigration to Palestine in Athens; illegal emigration; incarceration in ʻAtlit; release; reunion with her father; marriage; and the births of her children. Ms. R. discusses her strong will to live contributing to her survival; relations between prisoners from different countries; debilitating depression resulting from her experiences; fearing disbelief of her story; and not sharing her experiences with her children, except one who is interested.

2 videocassettes