Harry F. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Harry F., who was born in Cologne, Germany in 1924. He describes emigrating with his mother and brother to Belgium in 1933; the family moving to Zaandam; adjusting to school; his bar mitzvah; German invasion; obtaining Palestine visas; a brief arrest in 1940; anti-German riots in Amsterdam in 1941; internment with his parents and brother in Westerbork; building barracks; reluctance to leave his parents and brother when he had the opportunity to escape; avoiding deportation due to their Palestine visas; deportation in 1944 with his family to Bergen-Belsen to a special section due to their Palestine visas; cruel kapos and guards; pervasive hunger; moving luggage from the "living" to the "dead" side (400-500 a day); evacuation by train on April 10, 1945; self-liberation when the guards "disappeared" in Tro?bitz; assistance from Soviet troops; traveling to Leipzig with an African-American military unit; returning to Holland; and emigration to the United States. Mr. F. reflects on his difficult decision to return to Germany; sympathy for young Germans; donating German reparation payments his family receives to charity; and sharing his experience with his children. He recalls the organization and interactions of national groups in the camps, and the constant indignities and fear.
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
- F., Harry, -- 1924-
Corporate Bodies
- Westerbork (Concentration camp)
- Bergen-Belsen (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Fathers and sons.
- Mothers and sons.
- Forced labor.
- Brothers.
- Concentration camps -- Psychological aspects.
- Concentration camps -- Sociological aspects.
- Refugees, Jewish.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Psychological aspects.
- Postwar experiences.
- Survivor-child relations.
- Bar mitzvah.
- Passive resistance.
- Men.
- Video tapes.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Family.
- Jews -- Migrations.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
Places
- Cologne (Germany)
- Zaandam (Netherlands)
- Germany.
- Belgium.
- TroĚbitz (Germany)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat