Valery W. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Valery W., a non-Jew, who was born in Les Deux-Acren, Belgium in 1919. He recalls working at a power station; military service; German invasion; being sent to several locations ending at Bagnols-sur-CeĚze; training with French military in a nearby village; attack by German planes; capture; internment in a prisoner of war camp with his unit and French units; release; returning home; resuming his job; spontaneously sabotaging German communications lines with friends; organizing other sabotage; printing a Resistance publication in Lessines; blowing up railroad tracks, trains, and locks; liaising among several groups; betrayal and arrest in 1944; imprisonment in Oudenaarde, then Ghent; never divulging information despite beatings during interrogations; transfer in July to Bourg Leopold; receiving food nightly from the local Red Cross; escaping with others; liberation by United States troops; returning home; learning his father had perished; re-enlisting in the military; and serving until 1947. Mr. W. discusses not sharing his experiences and continuing nightmares due to his experiences.
Extent and Medium
6 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
- W., Valery, -- 1919-
Corporate Bodies
- Croix-Rouge de Belgique
Subjects
- Postwar effects.
- Escapes.
- Postwar experiences.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Belgium.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons, German.
- Prisoners of war -- Belgium.
- Prisoners of war -- France.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Belgian.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, Belgian.
- Video tapes.
- Men.
Places
- Oudenaarde (Belgium)
- Bagnols-sur-CeĚze (France)
- Lessines (Belgium)
- Belgium.
- Les Deux-Acren (Belgium)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat