Ilse W. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Ilse W., who was born in Rotenburg, Germany in 1927. She recalls anti-Jewish harassment; her older brother attending a Jewish boarding school in Kassel; moving to Frankfurt in 1936 hoping it would be safer if they were in a bigger city; attending Jewish school (the Philanthropin) with her brother; increasing isolation; a former maid who smuggled food to them; and difficulty comprehending their changing situation. Mrs. W. recounts Kristallnacht; her father's arrest and incarceration in Buchenwald; his release and emigration to Holland; leaving for England in June 1939 on a children's transport; and her father accompanying her during the train trip through Holland. She describes cruel treatment in a school for refugee children in the British countryside; smuggling a letter to Bloomsbury House describing conditions; the subsequent disbandment of the school; her transfer to a wonderful home in Folkstone; corresponding with her father; learning of her family's emigration to the United States; joining them in Chicago in February 1940; and their efforts to earn a living and become educated.
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
- W., Ilse, -- 1927-
Subjects
- Family.
- Kindertransports (Rescue operations)
- Jews -- Migrations.
- Refugees, Jewish.
- Antisemitism -- Prewar.
- Kristallnacht, 1938.
- Crystal Night, 1938.
- Women.
- Video tapes.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Jews -- Rescue.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Children.
Places
- Frankfurt am Main (Germany)
- Folkestone (England)
- Germany.
- Rotenburg am der Fulda (Germany)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat