Léon H. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Léon H., a Catholic, who was born in Verviers, Belgium in 1918. He recalls the family's bakery; military service in 1940; deserting rather than surrendering; returning home; joining the Resistance; an encounter with collaborators; blowing up electrical lines; arrest on May 22, 1942; four months solitary confinement in the Citadelle de Liège; transfer to Bochum; forced factory labor; sabotaging the work; praying with other prisoners; transfer with other French and Belgian "Nacht und Nebel" prisoners to Esterwegen after four months; a friend sharing bread with him when he was sick; organized exercise and discussion groups; a failed escape attempt; transfer to Börgermoor, then Untermassfeld; liberation by United States troops; repatriation; reunion with his family; living with his sister in Ostend; and benefits as a former prisoner. Mr. H. notes his optimism in camps; not learning about the Jewish Holocaust until after liberation; and not sharing his experience until recently.
Extent and Medium
3 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
- H., Léon, -- 1918-
Corporate Bodies
- Börgermoor (Concentration camp)
- Esterwegen (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Mutual aid.
- Escapes.
- Postwar experiences.
- Concentration camp inmates -- Religious life.
- Concentration camps -- Psychological aspects.
- Forced labor.
- Concentration camps -- Sociological aspects.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons, German.
- Concentration camp inmates.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, Belgian.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Belgian.
- Men.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Belgian.
- Video tapes.
Places
- Bochum (Germany : Concentration camp)
- Ostend (Belgium)
- Untermassfeld (Germany : Concentration camp)
- Belgium.
- Verviers (Belgium)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat