David S. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of David S., who was born in Bad Friedrichshall, Germany in 1911. Her recalls a pleasant childhood; his father's service in World War I and his strong German identity; boycott of his father's business in 1933; arrest with his father on Kristallnacht; his father's release due to his age; destruction of their home and business; his incarceration in Buchenwald; beatings, starvation, and illnesses; release after five weeks; a contact arranging for a Jewish family to sponsor his emigration to Scotland; reporting to the Nazi party in Darmstadt and Bad Friedrichshall until his departure; wonderful treatment from his Scottish sponsors; leaving for the United States in January 1940, hoping to get his parents out; his last letter from them saying they were being deported to Theresienstadt (he never learned their fate); and marriage to an America woman. Mr. S. notes his father's belief in being a good German citizen ultimately cost him his life.
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., David, -- 1911-
Corporate Bodies
- Buchenwald (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Holocaust survivors.
- Video tapes.
- Men.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Crystal Night, 1938.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Jews -- Rescue.
- Kristallnacht, 1938.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
Places
- Scotland.
- Darmstadt (Germany)
- Germany.
- Bad Friedrichshall (Germany)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat