Walter S. Holocaust testimony

Videotape testimony of Werner S., who was born in Gelsenkirchen, Germany in approximately 1918. He recalls his family's affluence; his father's service in World War I; close relations with non-Jews; expulsion from gymnasium after Hitler's ascent; working in the building trades; his sister's emigration to Kenya; his father's strong German identity; assistance from non-Jews, including a nun; gradual anti-Jewish restrictions; Kristallnacht (he and his father were among the few males not arrested); deportation with his parents to the Ri?ga ghetto in January 1942; a privileged position as a bricklayer; surviving through smuggling; transfer with his parents to Stutthof; separation from his mother; increasing physical debilitation and frequent beatings; escaping with a friend from a death march; identifying themselves as German soldiers when they were caught (they were both blond); imprisonment; transfer to the non-Jewish section of Stutthof; escaping with his friend from another death march; hiding on a farm; liberation by Soviet troops; living in Bydgoszcz; returning to Latvia, searching for his parents; learning they had perished; living in Berlin; emigration to join an uncle in the United States in 1949; and marriage to an American in 1951. Mr. S. notes anger at Hollywood representations of the Holocaust; attributing his survival to luck, looking German, and knowing the language; his strong belief in God, although not in organized religion; and fighting prejudice as a memorial to those killed in the Holocaust.

3 videocassettes