Theophile D. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Theophile D., a Catholic, who was born in Zoutleeuw, Belgium in 1918, one of two brothers. He recounts his father's death in 1933; enlisting in the military in 1938; mobilization in 1939; German invasion; capture as a prisoner of war; transfer from Ghent to Wissel, Herzberg, then Stalag 1A; forced labor in a factory, then on a farm; release in January 1941; returning to his family; joining a Royalist group, then the Resistance; burning crops planted for German use; organizing train sabotage; hiding Allied pilots and Jews who had escaped from transports; his mother distributing clandestine newspapers; arrest with a Jew he was hiding; incarceration in Breendonk; torture; slave labor building fortifications; constant fear and anxiety; release after two months; re-arrest en route to Brussels; imprisonment in Antwerp as a Jew; release several months later; returning home; continuing to work in the Resistance; liberation; and enlisting in the Belgian army. Mr. D. discusses the importance of praying and faith to his survival; his belief that collaborators were not sufficiently punished; nightmares resulting from his experiences; sharing his experiences with his children and grandchildren; and visiting Breendonk with them.
Extent and Medium
5 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
- D., Theophile, -- 1918-
Corporate Bodies
- Stalag 1 A.
- Breendonk (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Concentration camp inmates -- Religious life.
- Concentration camps -- Psychological aspects.
- Resistance.
- Nightmares.
- Postwar experiences.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Postwar effects.
- Survivor-child relations.
- Concentration camp inmates.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Belgian.
- Prisoners of war -- Germany.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, Belgian.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons, Belgian.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons, German.
- Forced labor.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Belgium.
- Video tapes.
- Men.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
Places
- Herzberg (Germany : Concentration camp)
- Wissel (Germany : Concentration camp)
- Ghent (Belgium)
- Zoutleeuw (Belgium)
- Belgium.
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat