Advanced Search

Learn About The Holocaust

Special Collections

My Saved Research

Login

Register

Help

Skip to main content

Fred M. Holocaust testimony (HVT-2025) interviewed by Joni-Sue Blinderman,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-2025

Videotape testimony of Fred M., who was born in Berlin, Germany in 1927. He recalls childhood awareness of danger around him; orthodox observances of holidays and Sabbath; his father's deportation to Poland in October 1938 (he never saw him again); Kristallnacht resulting in their realization they had to escape; his mother arranging to illegally send him and his sister away; the painful separation from her at the Dutch border (he never saw her again); staying in a children's home in Hoogeveen; being moved to Claydon, England (his sister remained and later perished in Bergen-Belsen); moving to Westgate, then London; the outbreak of war; staying with non-Jewish families in Chelmsford, then in a Jewish boys home in Ely; living in poverty upon his return to London; membership in ORT; a Jewish roommate who became a lifelong friend; participating in a synagogue youth group; volunteering for the Red Cross during German bombings; learning that no one in his immediate family had survived; emigrating to the United States in 1947 to join relatives; and marriage to a Viennese refugee. Mr. M. discusses his mother's courage in sending her children away. He shows photographs.

Author/Creator
M., Fred, 1927-
Published
New York, N.Y. : A Living Memorial to the Holocaust-Museum of Jewish Heritage, 1992
Interview Date
March 25, 1992.
Locale
Germany
Berlin (Germany)
Hoogeveen (Netherlands)
Westgate-on-Sea (England)
London (England)
Chelmsford (England)
Ely (England)
Language
English
Copies
2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Fred M. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2025). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.