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A Wealthy Jewish Family in 1943 Paris
Berr was from a privileged family and initially the German
occupation had little effect on her carefree existence. When the diary
begins, Berr is an idealistic and exuberant student, and Paris is
flooded in sunshine.
"From the rue Soufflot to Boulevard Saint-Germain, I am in enchanted
territory," she writes, referring to the Latin Quarter where she
studied.
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Country Estates And Plenty Of Suitors
Berr, whose diary begins when she was 21, was able to attend class
and move about Paris, despite growing Nazi restrictions.
Still, Berr's diary is "an exceptional case," said Karen Taieb, head
of archives at the Holocaust museum. It is the first account of life
under the occupation in France by a student, Taieb said.
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The Boyfriend Is A Resistance Fighter
She fell in love with Jean Morawiecki and they became engaged. He
left for London to fight with De Gaulle's Free French and she began to
write the diary as way to share her experiences with him. He kept the
diary for 50 years before handing it over to her niece Mariette Job.
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But on June 8, 1942, when she wore the emblem for the first
time, she understood the gravity. "I held my head high and looked
people so straight in the eyes they turned away. But it's hard."
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She Said She Worked With Orphans
Helene worked with young Jewish children and became
increasingly convinced of her terrible fate. In March 1944
Helene and her parents were arrested, they were deported and
she died in April 1945 in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
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Nazis Hunt Her Down
Gradually the Nazi noose tightened around Paris, and Berr and her
family scattered at night, sleeping at acquaintances' homes.
She and her parents were arrested March 8, 1944, at their Paris home,
on a night when they did not go into hiding. The three, as well as
other family members, died in concentration camps.
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Off To Auschwitz
The secret diary of a young Jewish woman recounting two years under
the Nazi occupation portrays the slow shattering of her life, ending
with her deportation on her 24th birthday and death in a concentration
camp.
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She Was Transported 500 Miles To Be Gassed
This was mid 1944 and the Americans were landing at Normandy, and
the Russians were at the Polish border.
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