Albert M. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Albert M., a non-Jew, who was born in Kessel-Lo, Belgium in 1917. He recalls becoming a master tailor; owning his own store; military draft in 1936 for eight months and again during German invasion; capture as a prisoner of war; release after eight weeks; returning home; becoming a Resistance courier; arrest in December 1943; incarceration in Breendonk; never revealing information during torture; starvation and slave labor digging ditches; frequent executions, including his friends; a privileged assignment as a tailor; transfer six months later to Buchenwald, Dora, then Harzungen; crude treatment for infections; sharing tobacco rations with others; a death march; escaping with several others; receiving food from locals; liberation by Soviet troops; transfer to the United States occupied area; repatriation a few days later; and marriage in 1952. Mr. M. recalls losing hope of surviving while at the same time willing himself to survive; persistent health issues resulting from his experiences; leadership roles in former partisan organizations; and sharing his experiences with students in classes in schools and at Breendonk.
Extent and Medium
4 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
- M., Albert, -- 1917-
Corporate Bodies
- Breendonk (Concentration camp)
- Buchenwald (Concentration camp)
- Dora (Concentration camp)
- Harzungen (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Postwar experiences.
- Postwar effects.
- Concentration camp inmates.
- Men.
- Video tapes.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, Belgian.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Belgian.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Belgium.
- Prisoners of war -- Belgium.
- Forced labor.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities.
- Death marches.
- Concentration camps -- Psychological aspects.
- Mutual aid.
- Escapes.
Places
- Belgium.
- Kessel-Lo (Belgium)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat