Bamber, Helen Rae (Oral history)

British civilian with Jewish Relief Unit in Germany, 1945-1947

REEL 1 Aspects of period as civilian with Jewish Relief Unit in Germany, 1945-1947: expectations on arrival at Bergen-Belsen; preparations and training before going to Germany; reasons for wanting to go to Germany; scenes and smell on arrival; accommodation of displaced persons; segregation of inmates; scenes in camp hospital including problems with supplies; description of inmates telling their stories; importance of listening and similarities in stories told; steep learning curve in work; communications; change in attitude towards inmates of camp including role of Jewish Relief Unit; hopes of inmates and changes outside camp in Germany; duties at unit headquarters in Eilshausen; relationship with other organisations; cheapness of life; organisation of trips for inmates to sanatorium in Switzerland; society within in Bergen-Belsen; story of pot given. REEL 2 Continues: details of camp theatre; searches for relatives; stories of inmates returning to Poland; reasons inmates could not travel; Zionism among inmates; uprisings in concentration camps; talking about and remembering experiences; reactions to experiences and opinion of good done by Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture; role of Jewish Relief Unit. REEL 3 Continues: terrain around Bergen-Belsen concentration camp; scenes and smell on arrival; discussion of propaganda; hair of inmates; uses of dead bodies; reactions to film made at Bergen- Belsen, A Painful Reminder; reactions to dead bodies at Bergen-Belsen.