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Chester K. Holocaust testimony (HVT-2409) interviewed by Tobi Cooper and Enid Levi,

Oral History | Digitized | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-2409

Overview

Summary: Videotape testimony of Chester K., who enlisted in the United States Army in 1942; completed basic training in California; attended Officer Candidate School in North Carolina; served in Galveston, Texas; and completed his training in military intelligence. Mr. K. describes D-day; meeting General Patton; moving through France towards Germany; the Battle of the Bulge; entering Dachau on April 29, 1945, and later Allach, a subcamp of Dachau; his shock at seeing hundreds of corpses and the living conditions; attempts to help the survivors; speaking to them in Yiddish; their high death rate due to their inability to digest food; organizing a mourners' prayer with a Jewish chaplain; total lack of preparation for such an encounter; and his overwhelming desire to flee from such a horrifying place. Mr. K. relates preparing for six months to prosecute the commander of Dachau; interviewing survivors in trial preparation; and returning to the United States.
Author/Creator: K., Chester.
Published: Kansas City, Mo. : Midwest Center for Holocaust Education, Inc., 1994
Interview Date: April 27, 1994.
Locale: Germany
United States
Cite As: Chester K. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2409). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
Other Authors/Editors: Cooper, Tobi, interviewer.
Levi, Enid, interviewer.

Physical Details

Language: English
Copies: 2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Physical Description: 1 videorecording (52 min.) : col

Keywords & Subjects

Subjects (Local Yale): Liberator.
Subjects: Video tapes. Men. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Jewish. World War, 1939-1945--Participation, American. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American. World War, 1939-1945--Participation, Jewish. World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities. War crime trials--Germany. United States--Armed Forces--Europe. Oral histories (document genres) K., Chester. Dachau (Concentration camp)

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/1091666
Record last modified:: 2018-05-30 11:32:00
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt1091666

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