John C. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of John C., who was born in Lynn, Massachusetts in approximately 1922. He recalls attending Yale in fall 1940; attempting to enlist in the naval air corps after Pearl Harbor; failing to pass the eye test; enlisting in the army; beginning active duty in early 1943; assignment to a mobile engineering corps; landing in Le Havre; moving into Germany; entering Wöbbelin shortly after its liberation; horror at the conditions; local Germans being forced to dig mass graves; and not believing local Germans and POWs denying knowledge of the camp and demonstrating no remorse. Mr. C. reads from a letter to his father describing Wöbbelin and from information about the camp. He discusses having no preparation for what he saw at Wöbbelin, despite several years of combat experience; his inability to understand how Germans could do this; pride in his family's military service during the war; not discussing the Holocaust with his siblings (they did not see any camps); and sharing his experiences with his children when they studied the Holocaust.
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
- C., John, -- 1922?-
Corporate Bodies
- Wöbbelin (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Men.
- Video tapes.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, American.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, American.
Places
- United States -- Armed Forces -- Europe.
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat