Shlomo P. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 1064
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Shlomo P., who was born in Peine, Germany in 1925. He recalls cordial relations with non-Jews until 1933; expulsion from school after the Nuremberg laws; the family's move to ?o?dz? in 1936; German invasion; fleeing to the Soviet Union with one brother; their separation; placement in an orphanage in Hrodna; draft into the Soviet military; capture by Germans in 1941; identifying himself as a Volksdeutsche while waiting in line to be shot in a mass killing; working as a translator/interrogator for the German 12th Armored Division; interrogating Stalin's son, Iakob Jug?as?vili; advancing toward Moscow, then Leningrad; sexual assault by an officer; friendship with him; revealing he was Jewish; the officer saving his life during the siege of Leningrad; the officers's death at Schlissel?burg; transfer from Tallinn to Berlin, then a Hitler-Jugend school in Braunschweig; a parade in his honor; antisemitic Nazi propaganda in the curricula; constant fear of discovery; supportive friendship with a friend's mother, whom he told he was Jewish; visiting the ?o?dz? ghetto on vacation in 1943, hoping to see his family (he did not); military conscription in 1944; liberation by United States troops; returning to Braunschweig; ending his double life; and reunion with his brothers. Mr. P. discusses his identity confusion and conflicted loyalty while posing as a German and recurrent nightmares.

Extent and Medium

4 videocassettes

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

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Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.