Henry B. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Henry B., who was born in Simmern, Germany in 1922. He recalls antisemitic harassment; expulsion from school; his bar mitzvah; attending school in Frankfurt in 1937; returning home during Kristallnacht; their house being vandalized; a Protestant minister helping them; joining an aunt in Mainz; attending school in Cologne; his parents joining him in spring 1940; his parents receiving a deportation notice; arranging to be deported with them; deportation to the Ri?ga ghetto in December 1941; transfer to the ghetto, then to Salaspils (he never saw his parents again); a severe beating; transfer back to the ghetto; contact with a girl from home (his future wife); her mother caring for him when he was ill; working as an auto mechanic; transfer to Kaiserwald in 1943; arranging a job for his future wife; ship transfer to Stutthof in September 1944; prisoners praying on Yom Kippur; transfer to Magdeburg; escaping with friends in January 1945; capture; a death march; liberation by Soviet troops; traveling to Simmern; locals returning his home and furniture; reunion with his future wife; marriage in 1945; his daughter's birth; emigration to the United States in 1951; and his son's birth. Mr. B. notes continuing genocidal killings demonstrate the world has not learned from the Holocaust. He shows photographs.
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., Henry, -- 1922-
Corporate Bodies
- Kaiserwald (Concentration camp)
- Stutthof (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Jewish ghettos.
- Jews -- Latvia -- Rīga.
- Forced labor.
- Concentration camp inmates -- Religious life.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Children.
- Jewish children in the Holocaust.
- Bar mitzvah.
- Kristallnacht, 1938.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Child survivors.
- Antisemitism -- Prewar.
- Escapes.
- Postwar experiences.
- Crystal Night, 1938.
- Mutual aid.
- Holocaust survivors.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Men.
- Video tapes.
Places
- Salaspils (Latvia : Concentration camp)
- Cologne (Germany)
- Rīga ghetto.
- Simmern (Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis, Germany)
- Germany.
- Mainz (Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany)
- Frankfurt am Main (Germany)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat