Arne L. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Arne Brun L., a non-Jew, who was born in Oslo, Norway in 1925. He describes his family; the political climate in the 1930s; German invasion in 1940; joining the resistance at age eighteen; his arrest; interrogations and beatings in Akershus castle; learning his file was lost, which saved him from execution; and being allowed to speak with his sister, which gave him courage. Mr. L. recounts transfer to Grini, then to Natzweiler-Struthof in 1944 where Josef Kramer was Kommandant; learning they were "Nacht und Nebel" prisoners - meant to disappear forever; arduous labor in a quarry (one-third died); transfers to Dachau, Ottobrun and Deutmergen; witnessing beatings and hangings; extreme hunger; return to Dachau in late 1944; a British friend who arranged his hospitalization and kept him off the list for medical experiments; and transfer in March 1945 to Neuengamme which was visited by the Swedish Red Cross. He details resistance activities in several camps; considers his survival was due to luck and optimism; and notes he did not discuss his experiences for forty years, although he dreamed about them.
Extent and Medium
2 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
People
- Kramer, Josef, -- 1906-1945.
- L., Arne, -- 1925-
- Grini (Concentration camp)
Corporate Bodies
- Svenska roĚda korset.
- Struthof (Concentration camp)
- Akershus Slott (Oslo, Norway)
- Neuengamme (Concentration camp)
- Dachau (Concentration camp)
- Ottobrunn (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Resistance.
- Postwar effects.
- Men.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Video tapes.
- Mutual aid.
- Hospitals in concentration camps.
- Dreams.
- Concentration camp inmates.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities.
- Forced labor.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Norwegian.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Norway.
Places
- Norway.
- Norway -- History -- German occupation, 1940-1945.
- Oslo (Norway)
- Deutmergen (Germany : Concentration camp)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat