Elsa and Kurt S. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Elsa and Kurt S. Kurt S. was born in Munich, Germany in 1917. He recalls being first in his class, but not matriculating due to anti-Jewish laws; confiscation of the family business; his father's death in 1936; his deportation to Dachau on Kristallnacht; release contingent upon his emigration; Hechalutz arranging his emigration to the Netherlands; working on a farm; and marriage in 1941. Elsa S. was born in Heidelberg in 1921. She recounts her family's move to Ludwigshafen in 1925; expulsion from school; preparing to emigrate to Israel with Hechalutz; meeting her future husband in the group; and following him to the Netherlands. They recall a round-up on the group farm; Ms. S. being sent to Amsterdam; Mr. S. remaining to continue farming; arranging for Ms. S. to join him; warning from the Dutch police of imminent round-ups; hiding with a non-Jewish woman in Deventer for eighteen months; working for the underground forging ration coupons; obtaining false papers; traveling to Paris, then Toulouse, and connecting with the French underground.
Extent and Medium
1 videocassette
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
- S., Elsa, -- 1921-
- S., Kurt, -- 1917-
Corporate Bodies
- Hechalutz (Organization)
- American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.
- Dachau (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Hiding.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Crystal Night, 1938.
- Antisemitism -- Prewar.
- Mutual aid.
- Postwar experiences.
- False papers.
- Escapes.
- Husband and wife.
- Refugees, Jewish.
- Jews -- Migrations.
- Kristallnacht, 1938.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Netherlands.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- France.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Women.
- Men.
- Video tapes.
- Holocaust survivors.
Places
- Netherlands.
- Heidelberg (Germany)
- Ludwigshafen am Rhein (Germany)
- Amsterdam (Netherlands)
- Deventer (Netherlands)
- Paris (France)
- Toulouse (France)
- Barcelona (Spain)
- Germany.
- Munich (Germany)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat