Joseph and Dorothy B. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Joseph B., who was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1927. He recalls his family's orthodoxy; his father teaching in a Jewish school; attending a Jewish boys' school; participation in Maccabi; his father's trip to Palestine and return, thinking he could not make a living there; antisemitic harassment; being warned prior to Kristallnacht; his father leaving (he went to the synagogue to rescue a Torah); Gestapo coming to arrest his father; his father's return days later (they attribute his survival to the Torah); difficulties trying to emigrate; receiving exit visas outside of the quota due to his father's friend (his future father-in-law); ship travel to the United States; and bringing the rescued Torah. Mr. B. discusses the continued importance of the Torah to his family. He is joined by his wife whose family came to the United States from Hamburg in 1938. They discuss their reluctance to return to Germany, despite many other relatives having done so. They show documents, objects (including the Torah), and photographs.

2 videocassettes