Kurt H. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Kurt H., who was born in a small town in Germany in 1928. He recalls that his was the only Jewish family in town; being protected by the townspeople on Kristallnacht; people from another town destroying the family's property; their move to Cologne in 1939; deportation to the Ri?ga ghetto; working for the ghetto commander; the sadistic behavior of the commander; the importance to their survival of sharing smuggled food and clothing; deportation by boat with his father and siblings to Stutthof on Yom Kippur 1944 (his mother remained in Ri?ga); separation from his sister; his father's death, which is too difficult for him to discuss; and liberation in March 1945 near Danzig by Soviet troops. Mr. H. describes a Soviet-Jewish physician who cared for his brothers; traveling to Poland seeking information about other family members; learning of his sister's death; fleeing with his brothers to Berlin; learning from American relatives that their mother was in Sweden; and emigration to Sweden, then the United States. He discusses the kindness of Americans and his appreciation of the United States.
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
- H., Kurt, -- 1928-
Corporate Bodies
- Stutthof (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Men.
- Video tapes.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Postwar experiences.
- Crystal Night, 1938.
- Mutual aid.
- Child survivors.
- Aid by non-Jews.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Children.
- Brothers.
- Kristallnacht, 1938.
- Antisemitism -- Prewar.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Jewish ghettos.
- Jews -- Latvia -- RiĚga.
Places
- Germany.
- Cologne (Germany)
- Sweden.
- Berlin (Germany)
- RiĚga ghetto.
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat