- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Harry D., who was born in Rīga, Latvia in 1928. He recalls a comfortable life as the only child of two members of the intelligentsia (his father was a concert pianist and music teacher); attending Jewish schools; drastic changes after Soviet occupation; German occupation in 1941; Latvian anti-Jewish violence; ghettoization; his grandfather's disappearance during a round-up; and taking his mother's advice to say he was older in order to accompany his father (he never saw her again). Mr. D. describes work in an SS hospital; arrival of German Jews; execution of Jewish police for planning a revolt; evacuation to Kaiserwald; transfer with his father to a satellite camp; improved conditions; return to Kaiserwald in the spring of 1944; transfer to Stutthof, then one week later to Buchenwald; sleeping in the woods due to overcrowding; transfer to Zeitz; Allied bombings; arrival of Hungarian Jews; deteriorating conditions; return to Buchenwald in January 1945; liberation; learning his father was dead; recuperation in Switzerland; and emigration to the United States in 1947. He discusses the inhumane conditions at twice daily roll calls and his reluctance to tell of his experience for many years.
- Author/Creator
- D., Harry, 1928-
- Published
- Baltimore, Md. : Baltimore Jewish Council, 1989
- Interview Date
- June 11, 1989.
- Locale
- Latvia
Rīga
Rīga (Latvia)
- Cite As
- Harry D. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1349). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
- Other Authors/Editors
- Wasserkrug, Irene, interviewer.
Nusgart, Ellen, interviewer.
