Wilson C. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of William C., who served as a chaplain with the United States Army in World War II. He recounts graduation from a Methodist seminary in 1943; joining the military in 1944; deployment to Europe in spring 1945; entering Buchenwald after liberation; emaciated prisoners showing them the barracks, crematoria, gallows, and lampshades made of human skin; a Jewish prisoner requesting a religious service; locating a Jewish cantor in the chaplaincy; helping transport the former prisoners to a church in Eisenach where they had organized the service; his strong emotional response to the service; and encounters with the dean of a Methodist seminary in Frankfurt who opined that the concentration camps were built by the United States to embarrass Germany and refused to acknowledge what Germany had done. Mr. C. notes problems with depression shortly after leaving Buchenwald and not sharing his experiences.
Extent and Medium
1 videocassette
Conditions Governing Access
This testimony is open with permission.
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Copyright has been transferred to the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies. Use of this testimony requires permission of the Fortunoff Video Archive.
Rules and Conventions
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Process Info
compiled by Staff of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
People
- C., Wilson.
Corporate Bodies
- Buchenwald (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, American.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, American.
- Postwar experiences.
- Video tapes.
- Men.
- Postwar effects.
Places
- Frankfurt am Main (Germany)
- Eisenach (Germany)
- United States -- Armed Forces -- Europe.
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat