Eric L. Holocaust testimony (HVT-864) interviewed by Norman Demick and Mitzi Zerivitz,

Videotape testimony of Eric L., who was born in Öhringen, Germany in 1916. He relates his family's history in Germany since the 17th century; moving in 1926 to Göppingen, where his father was rabbi, religious school teacher and cantor; friendly relationships with classmates; the shock of Hitler's appointment as Chancellor; people at school soon wearing swastika buttons; continued support from two Catholic classmates; students wearing brown uniforms and singing Nazi songs; and withdrawing from school due to antisemitism. He recounts the next four years at an orthodox teacher-training school in Würzburg; the lifelong impact of his transition to orthodoxy there; feeling secure despite increasing antisemitic restrictions; strengthened faith; and finding a position upon graduation. Mr. L. tells of his mother obtaining emigration documents for him from a relative in the United States just before Passover in 1938; emigration in September 1938; employment in Baltimore; learning of Kristallnacht; his father's death and mother's emigration to Baltimore in 1941; marriage in 1948; and the fate of his relatives. He discusses the pivotal role the Würzburg school played in his life, reunions of former students, and publication of a newsletter and the school's history.