Leo G. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Leo G., who was born in Berlin in 1921. Mr. G. details his family history and speaks of his prewar life. He describes his experiences of antisemitism during the rise of Nazism, both in school and in his neighborhood. He relates the death of his father in 1933; Kristallnacht and other anti-Jewish actions which followed; his departure from his mother and three sisters, whom he never saw again; and his emigration to the United States. He recounts his enlistment in the U.S. Army in 1942; his training as a denazification expert; and his arrival in Normandy, where he witnessed atrocities committed against United States soldiers by Germans and refused to help a dying German soldier. He speaks of interviewing captured Wehrmacht soldiers in Belgium in late 1944; his entry into Dachau shortly after liberation; and his denazification activities there. Mr. G. also tells of his duties as military governor of Bogen, in Bavaria; his visit to Theresienstadt in an unsuccessful search for family members; his son's recent visit to Europe to retrace his father's steps; and his attitude toward Germany and Germans.
Extent and Medium
3 videocassettes (3/4" u-matic)
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
- G., Leo, -- 1921-
Corporate Bodies
- Theresienstadt (Concentration camp)
- Dachau (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, American.
- Denazification.
- Refugees, Jewish.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, Jewish.
- Crystal Night, 1938.
- Survivor-child relations.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Men.
- Video tapes.
- Jews -- Germany -- Berlin.
- Kristallnacht, 1938.
- Jews -- Migrations.
Places
- Normandy (France)
- Belgium.
- Germany.
- Berlin (Germany)
- Bogen (Germany)
- Germany -- History -- 1945-1955.
Genre
- Oral histories. -- ftamc