Walter S. Holocaust testimony (HVT-146) [videorecording], 1979.

Kansas City, Mo. : Holocaust Survivors Film Project, 1979.

1 videorecording (1 hr., 1 min.) : col.

English

Additional written materials and photographs are available in the repository.

Videotape testimony of Walter S., who was born in Steinbach, Germany in 1924. He recalls living in Mannheim from 1931 on; his strong sense of German identity; expulsion from school; attending Jewish school; Kristallnacht; learning his father was in Dachau; moving to a kibbutz near Berlin hoping to emigrate to Palestine; and Gestapo takeover of the kibbutz. Mr. S. describes extreme hunger while harvesting crops for the Germans; transfer to several camps; observing the bombing of Berlin; transport to Auschwitz; selection for work in Buna; being shaved and tattooed (#117,022); illness; transfer to the hospital; being saved by the head nurse who had led his Zionist group in Germany; hearing news from British POWs housed nearby; an escape attempt in December 1943 resulting in a public hanging; removing the bodies of the hanged prisoners; another escape attempt which he assisted (the escapees never betrayed him) resulting in hangings; evacuation in January 1945 to Buchenwald, then Altenburg; a female guard assisting escape in April; travel to Allied troops; interrogation by American troops to ascertain they were not Germans; discovering a mutual friend with the interrogator; and assisting the German guard who helped them. This insightful testimony includes Mr. S.'s thoughts on survival strategies and related incidents of resistance and prisoner camaraderie.

June 01, 2002

Walter S. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-146). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.

Walter S. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-146). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.

Oral histories (document genres)