Fred Roberts Crawford memoir

Identifier
irn49265
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2013.183.1
Dates
1 Jan 1982 - 31 Dec 1982
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • English
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

folder

1

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Dr. Fred Roberts Crawford was born in 1924 in San Antonio, TX. He was a fighter pilot with the Fourth Squadron, and was stationed in North Africa in 1943, and, in 1944, flew bombing raids over Italy, France, and Romania. In June 1944, Crawford was shot down by friendly fire over Hungary; captured and beaten by Hungarian civilians who believed him to be Jewish, he was saved by a policeman, Ferenc Felsovari, who took him away from the mob and brought him to prison in Budapest. There, Crawford witnessed the arrival and execution of Jewish civilians. In July 1944, the German occupying forces found Crawford in the prison and removed him to the Stalag Luft III POW camp. On January 27,1945, the prisoners of war were forced to march to Stalag Luft VII-A, where the conditions were much more difficult. Stalag Luft VII-A was liberated by the British on April 29, 1945; a few days later, Crawford joined a unit touring the nearby Dachau concentration camp, which was newly liberated. Crawford earned his PhD in sociology from the Universtiy of Texas at Austin in 1957. Much of his research throughout his career focused on military combat experience. In 1966, Crawford became a professor of sociology and Director of the Center for Research in Social Change at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. In 1978, he was a member of a televised panel discussing the recent made-for-television movie "The Holocaust," when a caller asked why he should believe that concentration camps existed. Crawford decided to collect eye-witness accounts from American soldiers who liberated or toured the concentration camps as a way to combat Holocaust denial. He founded the "Witness to the Holocaust" project, collecting oral and written testimonies. Dr. Crawford passed away in 1982.

Archival History

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Gwenyth Crawford Dixon

Gwenyth Crawford Dixon donated a copy of her father's memoir to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2013.

Scope and Content

Consists of one typed memoir, written by Fred Roberts Crawford, describing his wartime experiences as a fighter pilot during World War II, including life on Allied air bases in North Africa and Corsica; flying bombing raids over Italy, France, and Romania; being shot down by friendly fire in one such raid over Hungary; his capture by Hungarian civilians and subsequent imprisonment in Budapest and at Stalag Luft III and Stalag Luft VIII-A prisoner of war camps; and his liberation and subsequent viewing of the nearby Dachau concentration camp.

Conditions Governing Reproduction

Copyright Holder: Ms. Gwenyth Dixon

People

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

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.