Joseph F. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Joseph F., who was born in Missouri in 1919. He relates enlisting in the army in 1942; assignment to the 20th Armored Division; entering France in early 1945; hearing horror stories from Jewish refugees; starting a daily newspaper in his division; coming into the town of Dachau on April 30th, the day after the liberation of the camp (which he did not enter); viewing boxcars filled with corpses, the area littered with body parts, and the horrendous conditions of the prisoners wandering outside the camp; the disparity between the peaceful life in the town and the horrors of the camp; communicating what he witnessed to others in his division; and sleeplessness for months afterward. He discusses visiting Germany in 1990; his inability to visit the museum in Dachau due to his painful memories; and the importance of "taking a stand" so that incremental steps will not lead to such horror again.
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
- F., Joseph, -- 1919-
Corporate Bodies
- United States. -- Army. -- Armored Division, 20th.
- Dachau (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, American.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, American.
- Video tapes.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- Men.
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat