Author: USC Shoah Foundation via YouTube
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Henri De Kryger was born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (Holland) in 1919 to a Christian family. When he finished his schooling, teenage Henri began working at a prominent, Jewish-owned department store. Henri befriended a Jewish coworker, Max Heymans, who he later hid in his home. On May 10, 1940, Germany invaded Holland, and the department store was overtaken by the Nazis. All of Henri’s Jewish coworkers, including management, were removed from the business.

Henri attempted to aid Jewish acquaintances as war erupted in his country, Nazi ideology divided his extended family, and neighbors vanished. At the time, he was unaware that he too was at risk, for Nazis were also persecuting “homosexuals.” Henri was eventually imprisoned (in a regular prison) for smuggling food to Jews in hiding, and later interrogated for communicating with Max.

In this clip, Henri introduces us to his partner, Jon, and one of their furry children.

During Pride Month, USC Shoah Foundation aims to share the experiences of LGBTQ+ persons during the Holocaust (and other genocides), and acknowledges that most testimonies in our Visual History Archive were recorded before LGBTQ+ topics were discussed freely in American society.

You can watch Henri De Kryger’s full testimony at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RVcEr8ng5g

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USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education develops
empathy, understanding and respect through testimony, using its Visual History Archive of more than 55,000 video testimonies, academic programs and partnerships across USC and 170 universities, and award-winning IWitness education program. USC Shoah Foundation’s interactive programming, research and materials are accessed in museums and universities, cited by government leaders and NGOs, and taught in classrooms around the world. Now in its third decade, USC Shoah Foundation reaches millions of people on six continents from its home at the University of Southern California.

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