Norman T. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Norman T., who enlisted in the British military in early 1940. He discusses training; landing in Europe in June 1944; arriving in Celle, Germany on April 14, 1945; learning Bergen-Belsen concentration camp was nearby; arrival there on April 15; being overwhelmed with piles of rotting corpses and the condition of the prisoners; encountering Josef Kramer, the Kommandant; providing food for the prisoners, not realizing it would kill them; a large number of deaths; interrogating Kramer and others; wanting to shoot him and other guards but restraining himself based on his training; other soldiers shooting Germans; encountering a woman prisoner whom he decided to marry; proposing a few days later; leaving a document with her when he had to leave verifying their engagement; and their marriage in a synagogue in LuĚbeck on October 7, 1945. Mr. T. notes none of the German he encountered showed remorse or admitted guilt but claimed they just followed orders; not sharing his or his wife's story with their children or others, wanting to protect her; returning to Belsen in 1945 at the invitation of the German government; and subsequently speaking to schools with his wife about their experiences.
Extent and Medium
1 videocassette
Conditions Governing Access
This testimony can only be viewed at Yale by Yale faculty and/or students.
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. The testimony or excerpts from it cannot be used for publication.
Rules and Conventions
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Process Info
compiled by Staff of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
People
- T., Norman.
- Kramer, Josef, -- 1906-1945.
Corporate Bodies
- Bergen-Belsen (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Men.
- Video tapes.
- Postwar experiences.
- Liberator.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, British.
Places
- LuĚbeck (Germany)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat