Veitch, Bronia (Oral history)

description

Object description

German Jewish child in Berlin, Germany and in La Louviere and Isrealite de Brussels Orphanages in Belgium, 1935-1942; in hiding with Belgian family at St Niklaas Waas, Belgium, 1942-1944

Content description

REEL 1 Aspects of period as child in Berlin, Germany, 1935-1939: family origins and religious beliefs; early childhood memories; story of father's arrest and deportation to Poland, 1938; fate of relatives; escape of mother to GB, 8/1939; reaction to mother leaving. Aspects of period in La Louviere Orphanage in Belgium, 1939-1941: atmosphere in orphanage; food; punishments; behaviour of staff; education; German invasion of Belgium, 5/1940. REEL 2 Continues: Aspects of period in Israelite de Brussels Orphanage in Brussels, Belgium, 1942: description of orphanage; attending local school; wearing Star of David; support for Jews from Belgian people. Aspects of period in orphanage in Wezenbeck, Belgium, 1942: beginning of deportation of Jews; role of resistance warning of impending deportations and in destruction of Jewish records held by authorities; conditions in orphanage; deportation from orphanage to barracks, 10/1942; role of Belgian Queen Mother Elisabeth and David Ferdman in bribing Germans to save children; reaction to removal from orphanage. REEL 3 Continues: plans to find homes for children amongst Belgian population. Recollections of period in hiding with Henri and Gabrielle Bal in St Niklaas Waas, Belgium, 1942-1944: journey to join the Bals; how the Bals decided to take a Jewish child; receiving false birth certificate; education; Belgian populations support for Jewish people; making friends; German and Austrian officers billeted in home; reaction to sound of German jackboots; contact with mother; supplementing rations. REEL 4 Continues: clothing rations; attending church; listening to BBC; celebrating St Nicolas's Day and Christmas; trust in Belgian neighbours to keep her Jewish identity secret; arrival of Dutch Jewish family and their fate; American airmen hidden by the Bals; sheltering during Allied air raids; reaction of Bals to her visit to farm; receiving letters from sister in France; witnessing of evacuation of German headquarters; anticipation of liberation by Allied forces. REEL 5 Continues: liberation day, 9/9/1944. Aspects of period as schoolchild in St Niklaas Waas, Belgium, 1944-1945: return to school; relations with Allied troops; reaction to German Ardennes Offensive, 12/1944; Christmas celebrations, 12/1944; relationship with foster parents; discovery of fate of father in 1960s; threat of V1 flying bombs; VE Day celebrations, 5/1945; young man who returned from Buchenwald Concentration Camp; reaction to hearing news of concentration camps; award of medal to Henri Bal. REEL 6 Continues: Aspects of period living with mother in London, GB, 1945: reaction to leaving foster family; language difficulties; initial impressions of London; difficulties in relationship with mother; mother's attitude towards foster parents. Reflections on Holocaust experience: her sense of Jewishness; fate of foster parents; impact of Holocaust experience; story of meeting other hidden children; reunion of hidden children in New York, 1991. REEL 7 Continues: Belgian support for hidden Jewish children and support from Catholic Church; visit to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Israel; visit to site of Warsaw Ghetto; impact of her experience on relationship with own children.

Object details

Category: Sound
Related period: 1990 to the present day (production), Second World War (content)
Creator: IWM (Production company)
Smith, Lyn E (recorder)
Veitch, Bronia (interviewee/speaker)
Production date: 1998-01-12
Dimensions: whole: Number Of Items 7, 210
Catalogue number: 18518

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