Alexander R. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Alexander R., who was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1908. Mr. R. recalls his youth in a prominent, assimilated family; loss of the family shoe store during the 1919 Communist regime; suppression of the Communists; return of the family business; antisemitism in school and university admissions; law studies; and receiving his doctorate in 1930. He recounts his law apprenticeship with a Jewish politician; military service starting in 1931; attending officer candidate school; antisemitic incidents; discharge in 1932; return to law practice; the political shift to the right from 1933 onward; marriage in 1938; restrictive Jewish laws; compulsory service in a labor battalion in Oradea; a temporary medical discharge; service in Esztergom; becoming platoon leader; weekly furloughs in Budapest; transfer to Transylvania in 1943; transfer to oilfields near Ploies?ti in the spring of 1944; return to Budapest; living with his family and other Jews in a school building; using his contacts to avoid deportation; and Gestapo execution of twenty-five people, including his oldest brother. This testimony contains many anecdotes and details of communal, political and military events in Hungary.

5 videocassettes (3/4" u-matic)