Claire Baum was born in Rotterdam, Holland in 1936. A young child when the war began, she remembers little from the prewar period, but her memories of the attack on Rotterdam are vivid. Once the German occupation began, her life became one full of restrictions. And when the government began rounding up Jews, Claire’s parents decided to split up the family and send Claire and her sister to hide in a Christian home. Forced to relocate after they were denounced, the second home that Baum hid in was the home of Tante Nel, a young woman without a family of her own. In hiding, Baum and her sister were forced to conceal their true identities. When Holland was finally liberated three years later by Canadian soldiers, Baum and her sister reunited with their parents and they all moved to Canada.
Claire Baum was interviewed for this project in May of 2019 by Mr. Masters’ Grade 12 history class.
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