Fred R. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Fred R., who was born in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1921 and served in the Ninth Army Air Force during World War II. He recalls pilot training in 1942-1943; being stationed in Folkingham, England; transporting supplies and wounded after Normandy; being shot down and captured on September 14, 1944 during a paratrooper drop for Operation Market Garden; and the month-long transfer to Stalag Luft I in Barth, Germany. Mr. R. describes the camp of approximately 9,000, primarily American Air Force officers; the prisoner chain of command; sports and educational activities; underground prisoner activities; the order to segregate Jews; unsuccessful efforts of the American leaders to have the order nullified; his decision to join approximately nine hundred segregated Jews in January 1945 when he could have posed as a non-Jew; and liberation by Soviet troops in May. He describes accompanying Soviet troops who liberated a nearby concentration camp; the extreme deprivation of its prisoners; and evacuation to Camp Lucky Strike in Le Havre two weeks after liberation. Mr. R. reads excerpts from his diary, shows his sketches of the camps and documents from the collection of another POW, Hubert Zemke.
Extent and Medium
2 videocassettes (3/4" u-matic)
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
- Zemke, Hub, -- 1914-
- R., Fred, -- 1921-
Corporate Bodies
- Barth (Concentration camp)
- Stalag Luft I
- United States. -- Army Air Forces. -- Air Force, 9th.
Subjects
- Video tapes.
- Men.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Resistance.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, American.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, Jewish.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, American.
- Prisoners of war -- Germany
Places
- Jersey City (N.J.)
- Folkingham (England)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat