Erich K. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Erich K., who was born into an observant family in Moravia. Mr. K. describes his happy childhood; the German occupation in 1939; his arrest, three months later, by the Gestapo for helping people cross the border; and his work in the camps of Dachau (1940), Neuengamme (1941), and Auschwitz (1942-1944) as a locksmith and plumber. He relates witnessing medical experimentation and other atrocities and his gradual desensitization; explains how he managed to survive, and help others, including his wife and son, to survive, even though he was labelled a "Geheimnistra?ger", i.e., someone who knew too much to be permitted to live; and describes the dismantling of the gas chambers in November, 1944. Mr. K. stresses the importance of documentation, including his and others' attempts, while in the camps, to alert the Allies. He also speaks of his postwar life in Czechoslovakia; emigration to Israel in 1968; and his work as a researcher in Yad Vashem.

3 videocassettes (3/4" u-matic)