Hermelin, Benjamin

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Description de l'interview extraite du site US Fortunoff / Biographie à venir

Benjamin Hermelin was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1918. He describes his family's move to Belgium; his father's successful business in Brussels; attending school in Anderlecht; German invasion; his family's arrest attempting to enter Switzerland; arrest with his wife in the Pyrenees fleeing to Spain; internment in Gurs; his release through Abbé Alexandre Glasberg; obtaining false papers; joining FTPF (the French communist underground movement); his second arrest; torture during interrogations in Limoges; transfer to Compiègne, then Buchenwald; and slave labor in Gustloffwerke I. Mr. H. recalls his decision to rely on himself, particularly as opposed to religion; communists' efforts to help each other; learning of his son's birth; transfer to Hadmersleben, then another camp; evacuation to Lovosice; liberation by Soviet troops; traveling to Sokolov via Karlovy Vary; repatriation to Brussels via Würzburg; a joyful reunion with his friends, wife, and son; and learning of the extermination camps. He notes he remained under his false name as a non-Jew in the camps; the importance of friendship to his survival; and the impossibility of resisting in the camps.

(Copyright : Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies)

Ressources

Fiche interview

Code interview : YA/FA/027
Date interview : 05/06/1993
Lieu interview : Centre Audiovisuel de l’Université Libre de Bruxelles
Durée interview : 3h17
Langue interview : Français
Interviewers : Christophe Groetarts et Claire Gausset
Cameraman : Adrien Antoniol
Consultation : Autorisée
Indexation thématique : oui
Séquençage interview : oui