Herman D. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Herman D., a religious Protestant, who was born in 1909. He describes hearing antisemitic remarks in his youth; teaching in Swolgen, Netherlands; recognizing the danger of Nazism having read Mein Kampf; German invasion; joining the underground; hiding Allied pilots who had been shot down; offering to hide a Jewish friend and his family (they refused); he and his wife hiding two Jewish sisters for two and a half years; sensing danger and relocating the hidden Jews; arrest; separation from his wife; interrogations; transfer to a prison boat; forced labor digging anti-tank ditches; escaping with assistance from a farmer; and liberation by Canadian troops. Mr. D. discusses the constant danger to resisters and rescuers; his religious beliefs which informed his decisions; executions of many friends and colleagues by the Nazis; and avoiding traveling to Germany.
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
- D., Herman, -- 1909-
Subjects
- Antisemitism -- Prewar.
- Escapes.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons, German.
- Husband and wife.
- Rescuers.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Postwar experiences.
- Men.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Video tapes.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Jews -- Rescue.
- Forced labor.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Dutch.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Netherlands.
Places
- Swolgen (Netherlands)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat