Description
Object description
German schoolchild of Romany background living with foster family in Hamburg, Germany, 9/1939-4/1944; inmate in Zigeunerfamilienlager, Auschwitz II-Birkenau Concentration Camp, Poland, 4/1944-8/1944 and Ravensbrück Concentration Camp, Germany, 8/1944-9/1944; schoolchild in Hamburg, Germany, 9/1944-5/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Hamburg, Germany, 1935-1939: life with foster family; character of foster family. Recollections of period as schoolchild in Hamburg, Germany, 9/1939-4/1944: construction of air raid shelter; issue of gas masks; attitude towards British; blackout; omnipresence of Adolf Hitler; foster father's political outlook; prejudice against Gypsies; degree of awareness of Romany heritage; Allied bombing raids on Hamburg, 7/1943-8/1943; evacuation with foster sister to Barth after Allied air raids; story of Gestapo attempt to deport her to concentration camp and rescue by foster father, 1943.
REEL 2 Continues: reaction to being amongst gypsy deportees. Recollections of period as inmate in Zigeunerfamilienlager, Auschwitz II-Birkenau Concentration Camp, Poland, 4/1944-8/1944: foster parent's explanation to her on deportation from Hamburg; description of journey in cattle truck; arrival in camp; showering; German selection of arrivals; allocation of clothes; staying under protection of 'privileged' gypsy inmate Wanda; physical conditions of inmates.
REEL 3 Continues: description of barrack block; reaction to imprisonment; importance of relationship with Wanda; sight of column of Jewish inmates on route to gas chambers; reaction to meeting biological siblings; story of disposing of Wanda's soup; nature of relationship with Wanda; gypsy entertainments; hearing adult inmates discussing extermination; discovery of wooden hut full of dead bodies; description of paths in camp; inmate suicides.
REEL 4 Continues: sight of female inmate being dragged to camp hospital; death of her three biological siblings in camp; selection for transportation; dismantling of elements of camp; witnessing German extermination of camp, 1/8/1944; walk through camp to train station, 2/8/1944. Recollections of period as inmate in Ravensbrück Concentration Camp, Germany, 8/1944-9/1944: journey in cattle truck to camp; long wait to enter barracks; being thrown by Kapo onto bunk with five women and having an accident; kindness of Czech female inmates; crying for first time during imprisonment; psychological condition; rations.
REEL 5 Continues: arrival of food parcel from foster parents; sharing contents with sick child; description of roll calls; state of mind during incarceration; story of narrowly missing out on chance of obtaining new clothes and shoes from 'Kanada' store; reasons for post-war removal of camp tattoo; preparations for release from camp, 27/9/1944; arrival of foster father to collect her; journey from camp to Hamburg, 9/1944. Recollections of period as schoolchild in Hamburg, Germany, 9/1944-5/1945: reaction of foster parents to her relating experiences of time in concentration camps; return to school.
REEL 6 Continues: reaction to teacher enquiring about tattoo; suicidal thoughts; risks foster father took to obtain her release. Recollections of period as civilian in Hamburg, Germany, 1945-1963: post-war compensation process and discovery of part Gypsy origin; fate of biological mother; arrival of British forces, 5/1945; receiving Red Cross parcels; influx of German refugees from eastern Germany; presence of bomb sites in Hamburg until 1963; marriage and loss of child in road accident; background to move to GB, 1963 and meeting second husband. Reflections on Holocaust experience: psychological effects of experiences; attitude towards prejudice against Germans.
REEL 7 Continues: prejudice against Gypsies; attitude towards Romany origins; question of degree of awareness of Gypsy experience of Holocaust; role of Deutsche Sinti und Roma (DSR) organisation in Germany; visit to site of Auschwitz II-Birkenau Concentration Camp, Poland, 1994; contact with sister through Red Cross, 1961; question of not receiving psychiatric treatment on offer to Jewish survivors.