Joseph K. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Dr. Joseph K., who enlisted in the United States army in September 1942 and accompanied Patton's Third Army to Buchenwald on April 13, 1945. He recounts his initial shock upon observing bodies stacked liked cordwood and his anger that the world allowed this to happen; total lack of preparation for such an encounter; attempts to help the survivors; their high death rate due to their inability to digest food; and his conversations with them during which they described some of their experiences and enlisted his aid in locating relatives in the United States. Dr. K. recalls the residents of nearby Weimar being ordered to visit Buchenwald, of which they claimed complete prior ignorance; the necessity for the American troops to suppress their own reactions in order to provide help; visits by United States Congressmen; and helping establish a hospital at Cham for displaced persons. Dr. K. discusses the organization of Buchenwald; a book published by his army unit; his family's inability to believe the horrors he described; and the importance of vigilance in preventing a recurrence. He also shows photographs.
Extent and Medium
1 videocassette
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
- K., Joseph, -- 1923-
Corporate Bodies
- United States. -- Army. -- Army, 3rd.
- Buchenwald (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, American.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, American.
- Liberator.
- Video tapes.
- Men.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
Places
- Cham (Germany)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- ftamc