Robert S. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Robert S., who was born in Leipzig, Germany in 1919, the youngest of five children. He recalls attending a Jewish school; visiting his sisters and their families in Kraków; working in his family's business; an SS friend warning him of Kristallnacht; German invasion of Poland; one brother fleeing to Nice; his parents being trapped in Poland while visiting Kraków; four failed attempts to leave Germany; arrest and release in Zwieselstein, Austria during an attempt; moving to Berlin; being smuggled with his cousin to the Netherlands in November 1939; living at his uncle's home in Amsterdam; obtaining visas for his parents; their move to Italy; acquiring a United States visa in Rotterdam; traveling to Leipzig to obtain additional required documents; traveling by ship to the United States; his parents' arrival a year later; enlisting in the navy in 1942; and marriage. Mr. S. discusses a 1993 German government-sponsored visit to Leipzig with his wife; his sisters, one brother, their spouses, and children being killed by the Nazis; his surviving brother who had emigrated to Argentina; and not sharing his experiences with his children. He shows photographs.
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
- S., Robert, -- 1919-
Subjects
- Video tapes.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Postwar experiences.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Survivor-child relations.
- Antisemitism -- Prewar.
- Crystal Night, 1938.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, American.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, Jewish.
- Refugees, Jewish.
- Kristallnacht, 1938.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Jews -- Migrations.
- Men.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
Places
- Berlin (Germany)
- Rotterdam (Netherlands)
- Zwieselstein (Austria)
- Kraków (Poland)
- Amsterdam (Netherlands)
- Germany.
- Leipzig (Germany)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat