Harry W. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 3770
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Harry W., who was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1921 and raised in Vienna. He recalls his affluent childhood; his family's assimilation, emphasis on Viennese culture, and education; the Anschluss; expulsion from school; his older sisters' emigration; traveling to Prague to continue school; arrest; returning home; being sent to Paris in September 1938; internment in Melsay-du-Maine as an enemy alien after the outbreak of war in September 1939; release and emigration to the United States in January; assistance from HIAS in New York; being drafted in 1942; special training due to his language skills; landing on Normandy Beach on D-Day plus three; volunteering at the Nuremberg trials as his form of revenge; transfer to the Dachau trials; visiting Dachau; visiting his cousin Doris W. after learning from his parents in Argentina that she had survived; bringing Doris to the U.S.; military discharge in New York in 1946; marriage in 1947 to a childhood acquaintance; bringing his parents to the U.S. in 1949; and their deaths in 1950. Mr. W. discusses his fervent patriotism; continued animosity toward Germany despite frequent business trips there; and gratitude for his own luck in escaping Europe.

Extent and Medium

3 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.

Related Units of Description

  • Associated material: Doris W. Holocaust testimony [cousin] (HVT-1410), Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University.

Rules and Conventions

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Process Info

  • compiled by Staff of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies

People

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Places

Genre

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.