Albert M. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Albert M., a well-known writer, who was born in Tunisia in 1920 to a family of eight children. He recounts the influence of his father's rigor and his mother's laughter, dancing, and singing; speaking Judeo-Arabic; his diverse neighborhood; joining a Marxist youth group that included Arabs and Jews at age twelve; attending a Jewish school which exposed him to French culture; German occupation in November 1942; his uncle being taken hostage; executions and rapes; a German officer forcing his father to make a bag from a piece of Torah scroll; forced labor in concentration camps; harsh conditions including hunger, lice, and humiliating punishments, one of which resulted in his friend's death; escaping with friends; hiding in the woods; liberation by Allied forces in spring 1943; studying in Algeria, then at the Sorbonne after the war; reflecting on his Jewish identity in France; his first book focusing on discrimination and prejudice; marriage to a non-Jew; visiting Israel; and publication of his book, Portrait of a Jew. Mr. M. discusses his Tunisian childhood influencing all his work; writing about his Zionist and anti-colonialist beliefs; positive responses from some Arabs; the influence of other writers and intellectuals on his work; and his refusal to romanticize poverty. He shows documents, objects, and photographs.

16 videocassettes