Ruth G. Holocaust testimony (HVT-1765) [videorecording] / interviewed by Jaschael Pery, January 30, 1991.

New York, N.Y. : A Living Memorial to the Holocaust-Museum of Jewish Heritage, 1991.

1 videorecording (1 hr., 12 min.) : col.

English

Associated material: Gellis, Ruth. Interview 26067. Visual History Archive, USC Shoah Foundation. Access at https://vha.usc.edu.

Videotape testimony of Ruth G., who was born in Essen, Germany in 1925, an only child. She recalls a comfortable, happy life until Hitler came to power; anti-Jewish restrictions, including expulsion from school; her father's emigration to Johannesburg in 1936; she and her mother joining him in 1937; moving to Paris in 1938; the outbreak of war in 1939; her father's incarceration as an enemy alien; moving to Montargis; returning to Paris; her father's release upon enlistment in the Foreign Legion in 1940; German invasion; fleeing to Bordeaux, then Toulouse; reunion with her father; transport by French police to Barbazan in winter 1941; living in a "forced residence"; being forced to leave in 1942; getting off the train in Tauves; traveling to Bagnères-de-Bigorre where her uncle lived; hiding with him, his family, and other Jews; being protected by the local police commissioner, a Resistance member; fleeing during a Resistance battle; being hidden by peasants; returning to Bagnères-de-Bigorre; liberation; returning to Paris; marriage to an American in 1948; her daughter's birth; emigration to the United States in 1952; and the births of two more children. Ms. G. discusses her depression after liberation; regret at having no education as a child (she attended college as an adult); persistent emotional pain; hoping her children learn more about her experiences; and attending college. She shows photographs and her artwork, which is related to her experiences.

June 01, 2002

Ruth G. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1765). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.

Ruth G. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1765). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.

Oral histories (document genres)