Transcript:
In January of ’45 Auschwitz was evacuated and we all went on the death march. So many of us died on that march. And this is why it had been called the death march. Because half of the people from camp who did survive the two years in camp didn’t make it because of the march. We went a long three months in freezing weather and heavy snow. At that time the Germans who were still fighting, the Russians who find them, and that’s how they had found us. They were very kind and they took us to makeshift hospitals. They cleaned us up and shared with us all the medication they had. After about ten days the Red Cross came and found us and took us back to where we were from. I went back to Belgium with a friend of mine because she didn’t have any place to go. And the four others were from France and they were taken to France. I finally came back to Belgium. My older sister who has survived in hiding and had already an apartment had found out where my child is and she got my child back.
I can’t tell you my joy and happiness when I found my child alive. In 1946 we were reunited with my husband who was injured in England during the war. We came to America in 1949. In America we stayed with an aunt of mine, but we were not allowed to talk about the horrors and anything which we have lived through the war. But you know it took me fifty years to be able to talk about those experiences and what it has done to me. And even today I don’t feel like a normal or whole human being. And of course very depressed very often.
The biggest treasure and really what my whole life and what helps me live today and continue living, I’m 92, is just my wonderful family and my daughter who was hiding is right here. This is my biggest treasure in life.
I wish to thank you for your dedication to study the Holocaust and to demonstrate how important it is to fight bigotry and to encourage tolerance among people. And also I want to thank you because you are really the leaders of tomorrow. And because of your caring and dedication, we will never be forgotten. Thank you for inviting me.
In January of ’45 Auschwitz was evacuated and we all went on the death march. So many of us died on that march. And this is why it had been called the death march. Because half of the people from camp who did survive the two years in camp didn’t make it because of the march. We went a long three months in freezing weather and heavy snow. At that time the Germans who were still fighting, the Russians who find them, and that’s how they had found us. They were very kind and they took us to makeshift hospitals. They cleaned us up and shared with us all the medication they had. After about ten days the Red Cross came and found us and took us back to where we were from. I went back to Belgium with a friend of mine because she didn’t have any place to go. And the four others were from France and they were taken to France. I finally came back to Belgium. My older sister who has survived in hiding and had already an apartment had found out where my child is and she got my child back.
I can’t tell you my joy and happiness when I found my child alive. In 1946 we were reunited with my husband who was injured in England during the war. We came to America in 1949. In America we stayed with an aunt of mine, but we were not allowed to talk about the horrors and anything which we have lived through the war. But you know it took me fifty years to be able to talk about those experiences and what it has done to me. And even today I don’t feel like a normal or whole human being. And of course very depressed very often.
The biggest treasure and really what my whole life and what helps me live today and continue living, I’m 92, is just my wonderful family and my daughter who was hiding is right here. This is my biggest treasure in life.
I wish to thank you for your dedication to study the Holocaust and to demonstrate how important it is to fight bigotry and to encourage tolerance among people. And also I want to thank you because you are really the leaders of tomorrow. And because of your caring and dedication, we will never be forgotten. Thank you for inviting me.
