William F. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of William F., who was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1915 the only child of a Jewish mother and Catholic father. He recalls attending public school, gymnasium, and university; working as a librarian at Vienna University; the Anschluss in March 1938; his mother's chocolate business being closed due to anti-Jewish restrictions; arrest for not wearing a swastika; incarceration in Dachau; his father's death (he never learned how he died); slave labor digging fortifications; becoming the body carrier for his barrack; keeping some hope despite his belief he would never be released; release due to his mother obtaining a false request from friends in England for him to work as a librarian; traveling to London, then to southern Wales; working as a lumberjack; earning his fare to the United States; military service as an interpreter in Mississippi; marriage; and establishing a successful chocolate business. Mr. F. discusses learning his mother was deported to Poland in May 1942 (she did not survive); wonderful treatment in Wales by non-Jews; and his inability to hate.
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
- F., William, -- 1915-
Corporate Bodies
- Dachau (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Anschluss.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Jews -- Migrations.
- Refugees, Jewish.
- Postwar experiences.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Men.
- Video tapes.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Concentration camps -- Psychological aspects.
- Forced labor.
- Children of interfaith marriage.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
Places
- Vienna (Austria)
- Austria.
- Wales.
- Austria -- History -- Anschluss, 1938.
- London (England)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat