Rudy B. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Rudy B., who was born in Berlin, Germany in 1912. He recalls encountering "genteel" antisemitism before 1933; moving to Amsterdam immediately after Hitler's election; getting his parents and younger brother to Holland (his mother died prior to German invasion, his father in a concentration camp, and his brother emigrated to the United States); joining the Dutch military; escaping with a friend in 1941; traveling to Geneva via Lyon and Lons-le-Saunier; imprisonment; release after intervention by the Dutch consul; traveling to England using false papers via Marseille, Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, and Gibraltar; commando training in Scotland; serving in Burma; being wounded; recovering in India; returning to England; meeting with the Dutch queen; training Dutch underground forces in eastern Holland; returning to England after liberation; interrogating German prisoners in Spandau prison; serving in Borneo; and emigrating to the United States in 1947. Mr. B. notes his older brother perished in a concentration camp. He discusses his military and underground activities; encounters with the Dutch prince; reluctance of German and Dutch Jews to grasp the dangers of Nazism; and the importance of fighting antisemitism, both on a personal and collective basis. He shows photographs and memorabilia.
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
- B., Rudy, -- 1912-
Corporate Bodies
- Spandau Prison (Berlin, Germany)
Subjects
- Holocaust survivors.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Netherlands.
- England.
- Jews -- Migrations.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons, Swiss.
- India.
- False papers.
- Scotland.
- Burma.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Video tapes.
- Men.
- Escapes.
- Refugees, Jewish.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, Jewish.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, Dutch.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Antisemitism -- Prewar.
- Postwar experiences.
Places
- Geneva (Switzerland)
- Lons-le-Saunier (France)
- Barcelona (Spain)
- Marseille (France)
- Seville (Spain)
- Madrid (Spain)
- Borneo.
- Gibraltar.
- Berlin (Germany)
- Germany.
- Lyon (France)
- Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat