Overview
- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Rolf W., who was born in Berlin, Germany in 1912. He recounts his assimilated family's affluence; his parents' divorce; attending gymnasium; business training in Breslau, Düsseldorf, Berlin, and Bremen; termination because he was Jewish; working in his father's business in Auerbach; his father's death in 1934; economic and social problems resulting from the Nuremberg laws; returning to Berlin; a warning about Kristallnacht; hiding with his brother's friend; obtaining immigration papers for San Salvador from his half-brother who was there; his brother's emigration to the United States; joining him; military draft in spring 1942; training as an interrogator in the United States and England; assignment to the 7th Army; interrogating German prisoners in Blâmont; moving to Augsburg; interrogating and accompanying Hermann Göring; transfer to Nuremberg; heading the translation division working with the Soviets; taking command of his unit in May 1946; and working with the defendants, trial staff, and in the courtroom until 1947. Mr. W. discusses episodes with many Nazi defendants; the Einsatzgruppen trial (only four of fourteen death sentences were ever carried out); testifying concerning documents at the request of Judge Michael Musmanno; and indelible memories of obvious murderers. He shows photographs and documents.
- Published
- New York, N.Y. : A Living Memorial to the Holocaust-Museum of Jewish Heritage, 1990
- Interview Date
- November 19, 1990.
- Locale
- Germany
Berlin (Germany)
Wrocław (Poland)
Düsseldorf (Germany)
Bremen (Germany)
Auerbach (Saxony, Germany : Landkreis)
San Salvador (El Salvador)
Blâmont (Meurthe-et-Moselle, France)
Augsburg (Germany)
Nuremberg (Germany) - Cite As
- Rolf W. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1724). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
Physical Details
- Language
- English
- Copies
- 2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
- Physical Description
- 1 videorecording (2 hr., 24 min.) : col
Keywords & Subjects
- Subjects (Local Yale)
- Postwar experiences.
Crystal Night, 1938.
Nuremberg laws.
Antisemitism Prewar. - Subjects
- Holocaust survivors. Video tapes. Men. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Jewish. Citizenship--Germany. Jews--Legal status, laws, etc.--Germany. Kristallnacht, 1938. Jews--Migrations. Jewish refugees. World War, 1939-1945--Participation, American. World War, 1939-1945--Participation, Jewish. Nuremberg Trial of Major German War Criminals, Nuremberg, Germany, 1945-1946. War crime trials--Germany. Germany. Berlin (Germany) Wrocław (Poland) Düsseldorf (Germany) Bremen (Germany) Auerbach (Saxony, Germany : Landkreis) San Salvador (El Salvador) Blâmont (Meurthe-et-Moselle, France) Augsburg (Germany) Nuremberg (Germany) Oral histories (document genres) W., Rolf,--1912- Göring, Hermann,--1893-1946. Ohlendorf, Otto,--1907-1951. Blobel, Paul. Rasch, Emil Otto. Stahlecker, Franz Walter. Guderian, Heinz,--1888-1954. Sauckel, Fritz,--1894-1946. Musmanno, Michael A.--(Michael Angelo),--1897-1968. Haussmann, Emil. Biberstein, Ernst,--1899-1986. Schulz, Erwin. Braune, Werner. Jost, Heinz. United States.--Army.--Army, 7th.
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
- Special Collection
-
Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
- Link to Yale University Library Catalog:
- http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/4296008
- Record last modified:
- 2018-06-04 13:28:00
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4296008
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