Henry M. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Henry M., who was born in Dresden, Germany, in 1923. Mr. M., a violinist in a renowned string quartet, recalls his youth in a musical family; playing solo with the Dresden Philharmonic; giving recitals with his brother as a member of the Jewish Kulturband; his music studies in Prague in 1936; returning to Dresden after the annexation of the Sudetenland in 1938; and a brief imprisonment following Kristallnacht. He describes the difficulties of being a Jewish musician at war's outset; acts of kindness by sympathetic non-Jews; forced labor (making condoms and later assembling timers for detonators); his arrest for having a non-Jewish girlfriend; the deportation of his parents to Ri?ga (they did not return) in 1941; and deportation with his brother to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1943. He recounts details of camp conditions; his brother's illness and selection for death; his placement in the men's prisoner orchestra; close bonds among orchestra members; transport late in 1944 to Ohrdruf; his escape to the Allies during a forced march to Buchenwald in April 1945; and a personal interview with General Dwight D. Eisenhower.
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
- M., Henry, -- 1923-
- Eisenhower, Dwight D. -- (Dwight David), -- 1890-1969.
Corporate Bodies
- Ohrdruf (Concentration camp)
- Auschwitz (Concentration camp)
- Birkenau (Concentration camp)
- Dresdner Philharmonie.
- JuĚdischer Kulturbund.
Subjects
- Video tapes.
- Men.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Concentration camps -- Songs and music.
- Forced labor.
- Kristallnacht, 1938.
- Brothers.
- Death marches.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- Crystal Night, 1938.
- Holocaust survivors.
Places
- Germany.
- Dresden (Germany)
- Prague (Czech Republic)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat