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Leo B. Holocaust testimony (HVT-1310) interviewed by Rose Magel and Jay Cooperson,

Oral History | Digitized | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-1310

Overview

Summary: Videotape testimony of Leo B., who was born in Berlin, Germany in 1921, the oldest of four children. He recalls his family's affluence; his bar mitzvah in 1934; anti-Jewish restrictions; deportation with his father to Sachsenhausen in September 1939; arduous slave labor; assisting his father; transfer to Braunschweig in 1941; slave labor for Volkswagen-Vorwerk; return to Sachsenhausen; transfer with his father to Auschwitz in 1942, then to Buna/Monowitz; his father's selection for death in 1943; his friends from Berlin helping each other; public hangings; starvation and sadistic beatings; helping friends escape in 1944; hiding in the hospital to avoid punishment; a death march in January 1945; transport to Buchenwald, then Altenburg; working in a munitions factory; sabotaging his machine; liberation by United States troops in April; hospitalization; returning to Berlin; reunion with his mother, brother, and one sister (they were hidden by a non-Jew); learning his other sister was killed; and emigration to the United States, with assistance from HIAS, in June 1946 to join an uncle. Mr. N. discusses many details of camp life; the impossibility of conveying everything; claustrophobia resulting from his experiences; and his son's interest in children of survivors.
Author/Creator: B., Leo, 1921-
Published: Wilmington, Del. : Halina Wind Preston Holocaust Education Center, 1989
Interview Date: May 21, 1989.
Locale: Germany
Berlin (Germany)
Cite As: Leo B. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-1310). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
Other Authors/Editors: Cooperson, Jay, interviewer.
Magel, Rose, interviewer.

Physical Details

Language: English
Copies: 4 copies: 3/4 in. dub; Betacam SP restoration master; Betacam SP restoration submaster; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Physical Description: 1 videorecording (1 hr., 13 min.) : col

Keywords & Subjects

Subjects (Local Yale): Antisemitism Prewar.
Mutual aid.
Hospitals in concentration camps.
Postwar effects.
Postwar experiences.
Survivor-child relations.
Subjects: Holocaust survivors. Video tapes. Men. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Jewish. Bar mitzvah. Fathers and sons. Forced labor. World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities. Friendship. Escapes. Death marches. Sabotage. Germany. Berlin (Germany) Oral histories (document genres) B., Leo,--1921- Sachsenhausen (Concentration camp) Braunschweig (Concentration camp) Auschwitz (Concentration camp) Monowitz (Concentration camp) Buchenwald (Concentration camp) Altenburg (Concentration camp : Thuringia, Germany) HIAS (Agency)

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/4283702
Record last modified:: 2018-05-30 11:33:00
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4283702

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