Michele C. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Michele C., who was born in Paris, France in 1932. She recalls a happy childhood in an assimilated, affluent family; moving to La Celle-Saint-Cloud; her father's military draft in 1939; visiting him in Arcachon in May 1940; German invasion; living with her grandparents, brother, and governess in Juan-les-Pins; joining her parents in Saint-Etienne a year later; her parents placing her and her brother in a boarding house for children due to the presence of many Germans; weekend visits with their parents; vacationing in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon with their governess; her grandparents' deportation; briefly moving to another village; returning to Saint-Etienne; moving to Chambon without their father; his deportation to Drancy; her mother's futile attempts to secure his release; liberation by United States troops; reunion with her father; living in Paris until 1949; attending college in the United States, where she met her future husband; returning to France; marriage in 1952; emigrating to the United States, and returning to Paris in 1991. Ms. C. discusses the deportation and killing of sixteen relatives; their governess's loyalty throughout the war; finding her grandparents' names on a list of deportees in Lyon; and her parents' refusal to discuss the war years. She shows her book and her article in Le Monde.

2 videocassettes