Werner K. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 3120
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Werner K., who was born in Berlin, Germany in 1919. Mr. K. recalls attending school; expulsion after passage of the Nuremberg laws; futile attempts to emigrate with his brother, legally and illegally; the destruction of Jewish businesses on Kristallnacht eliminating work opportunities; doing manual labor; his parents' deportation to the ?o?dz? ghetto in October 1941; joining them weeks later; volunteering with his brother to leave the ghetto; transfer to Rawitsch; slave labor; public hangings; his brother's death from a beating; transfer to Auschwitz/Birkenau in 1943; being selected for gassing; hiding in a hole for fourteen days; taking the coat of a gassed prisoner and joining his group; discovery; being sent to the punishment block; transfer to Sachsenhausen; hospitalization for typhus; transfer to Buchenwald; liberation by United States troops; the Americans compelling locals to visit the camp; returning to Berlin; seeking Red Cross assistance to find surviving relatives (there were none); marriage; and his son's birth. Mr. K. discusses details of camp life, including the hierarchy; believing he would not survive, but at the same time, not losing hope; discussions in camp noting no one would ever believe their experiences if they survived; not sharing his experiences, particularly with his son; a recent visit to Auschwitz/Birkenau; recurring nightmares; and his continuing sense of belonging in Germany. He shows photographs.

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

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This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.