Irving R. Holocaust testimony

Identifier
HVT 1100
Language of Description
English
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Abstract

Videotape testimony of Irving R., who was born in Moscow, Soviet Union, in 1920. He tells of his family's move from Ri?ga to Moscow before World War I; their return in the mid-1920s; antisemitism in prewar Latvia; German occupation in 1941; arrest by a Latvian Volksdeutsche who was a childhood friend; the Rumbuli massacres; forced labor; and life in the small ghetto. He describes his transfer to Kaiserwald in 1943; transport in 1944 to Stutthof, then Buchenwald, where he was forced to perform meaningless labor; producing ammunition at Bochum; escaping during a death march back to Buchenwald; recuperation in a Bavarian hospital; and arrival in the United States in 1947. Mr. R. recites lyrics of camp inmates' songs; reflects on revelations about the wartime and postwar activities of Barbie, Demjanjuk and Waldheim; and explains the role of children and grandchildren in preserving survivors' memories of the Holocaust.

Extent and Medium

2 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

  • R., Irving, -- 1920-

Corporate Bodies

  • Stutthof (Concentration camp)

Subjects

  • Men.
  • Video tapes.
  • Holocaust survivors.
  • Forced labor.
  • Concentration camps -- Songs and music.
  • World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
  • Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
  • War criminals.
  • Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Songs and music.
  • Jews -- Latvia -- Rīga.
  • Jewish ghettos.
  • Survivor-child relations.
  • Antisemitism -- Prewar.
  • Death marches.
  • World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities.
  • Mass killings.

Places

  • Rumbuli (Latvia : Forest)
  • Rīga ghetto.
  • Bochum (Germany)
  • Buchenwald (Germany : Concentration camp)
  • Rīga (Latvia)
  • Moscow (Russia)
  • Soviet Union.
  • Kaiserwald (Latvia : Concentration camp)

Genre

  • Oral histories. -- aat
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.