Ernest H. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Ernest H., who was born in Munich, Germany in 1921. He describes his assimilated and wealthy family background; antisemitic incidents at school; his father's belief that Hitler's rise to power would not last long enough to impact them; the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses on April 1, 1933; completing his education in Switzerland; visiting his parents for the last time during the summer of 1938; internment in a Swiss camp after the German invasion of France in 1940; being chosen by a Joint representative for emigration to the Dominican Republic; and traveling via France and Spain to Lisbon, then by ship via Ellis Island to Santo Domingo. Mr. H. recounts receiving his parents' last letter in 1941; learning, after the war, that his parents had been deported to Ri?ga; and emigrating to the United States in 1945. He notes there were good sources of information in prewar Germany; his parents' reluctance to leave; and never considering himself German.
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
- H., Ernest, -- 1921-
Corporate Bodies
- American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.
Subjects
- Holocaust survivors.
- Men.
- Video tapes.
- Antisemitism -- Prewar.
- Ellis Island Immigration Station (New York, N.Y.)
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Refugees, Jewish.
- Jews -- Migrations.
Places
- Germany.
- Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic)
- Munich (Germany)
- Lisbon (Portugal)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat