Hildegard W. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Hildegard W., who was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1912. Mrs. W. describes her liberal Protestant childhood; unfamiliarity with Judaism and antisemitism before marrying a Jew in 1931; early Nazi anti-Semitic acts which they and others did not take seriously; their reluctance to abandon their successful business; the birth of her sons in 1933 and 1935; and a vacation in the Hartz mountains in 1936 during which an encounter with Nazis convinced her husband to emigrate. She recalls increased intimidation; the arrest of a homosexual employee; preparations to leave; and their departure in 1937 in the guise of a vacation to Switzerland. She discusses staying in Italy while seeking United States visas; an attempt by a German industrialist to recruit them for arms smuggling; their departure for the U.S. via Rotterdam in late 1938; unsuccessful attempts to persuade her brother-in-law to emigrate (he died at Terezi?n); and impressions from a 1984 trip to West Germany.

2 videocassettes (3/4" u-matic)