Interview with Gertrud Mainzer,

Interview Summary

Gertrud Mainzer tells of her family's escape from Frankfurt, Germany to the Netherlands in 1933 when Hitler rose to power in Germany, after which they were safe until the German invasion of the Netherlands in 1940. Subsequently, she explains, her husband was arrested and in 1942 she and her two children went into hiding separately. She describes her hearing of her children's capture by the Germans one year later, after which she followed them into Westerbork transit camp (Netherlands), and from there to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp (Germany). She describes Bergen-Belsen, where she and her children were detained until their liberation by the Allies in 1945.

Interview Keyword

Bergen-Belsen (Concentration camp) Child psychology Children Concentration camps. Holocaust survivors. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Netherlands Westerbork (Concentration camp) World War Two World War, 1939-1945--Jews.

Interview LC Subject

World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.