Hélène A. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Hélène A., who was born in Sevluš, Czechoslovakia (presently Vynohradiv, Ukraine) in 1926, one of seven children. She recounts a happy childhood; attending Czech public school; antisemitic harassment; Hungarian occupation in March 1939; her parents sending her with a sister to Budapest in 1942; working for a tailor; anti-Jewish restrictions; a Hungarian soldier from their hometown assisting them; obtaining false papers; hiding in their apartment during Allied bombings; denouncement; arrest and interrogation; transfer to Gestapo custody; deportation to Kistarcsa; release; assistance from the Jewish community; returning to Budapest; hiding in several places, including an orphanage, a Jewish hospital, and a cellar; her sister registering them as non-Jewish refugees (they received legal papers as non-Jews); renting a home in Szomor; her future husband hiding with them; billeting German soldiers; liberation by Soviet troops; living with a farmer; avoiding rape by Soviet soldiers; traveling to Szolnok, Debrecen, then Uz︠h︡horod; reunion with her sister who had been in Auschwitz; returning to Budapest; working at a Jewish orphanage; her sister Esther A.'s return; moving to Prague; emigration with her three sisters to Belgium; marriage in 1952; and the births of four children. Ms. A. discusses nightmares resulting from her experiences and not sharing her experiences with her children.

8 videocassettes