Eli W. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Eli W., who was born in the United States and grew up in a secular home, observing Jewish holidays. He recounts enlisting in the United States Army after Pearl Harbor; training as a tank officer; serving in the Third Army, 11th Armored Division; fighting under Patton in southern Europe and the Battle of the Bulge; capture near Malmedy; observing from a distance the Germans shooting all the American prisoners; immediately escaping; rejoining his unit; the pervasive stench when approaching Mauthausen; entering in the lead tank; shock at the condition of the prisoners; taking photographs which they later discarded; feeding the prisoners, not realizing it was harmful; piles of corpses; compelling locals, who denied knowledge of the camp, to bury the bodies; not discussing this experience for many years, despite it having changed him; briefly administering a displaced persons camp; and recently sharing his experience with his children, grandchildren, and school classes.
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
- W., Eli, -- 1921-
Corporate Bodies
- Mauthausen (Concentration camp)
- United States. -- Army. -- Armored Division, 11th.
Subjects
- Postwar experiences.
- Postwar effects.
- Liberator.
- Video tapes.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Men.
- Prisoners of war -- Belgium.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities.
- Refugee camps.
- Escapes -- Belgium.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, American.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, Jewish.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, American.
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat