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Harry B. Holocaust testimony (HVT-2402) interviewed by Sharon Nichols,

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-2402

Videotape testimony of Harry B., who enlisted in the United States military in 1942. He recounts training as a surgical technician; being stationed in Wales and Scotland; moving to Germany; observing corpses in striped uniforms at the Weimar railroad station; encountering the stench of Buchenwald prior to arrival; the medics entering first; corpses everywhere; establishing a hospital in the SS barracks; prisoner deaths due to eating; compelling local residents to visit Buchenwald (they denied knowledge of Buchenwald in spite of the pervasive odor and bodies outside of the camp); witnessing Soviet soldiers beating an SS trooper to death; a ceremony for the dead several days after liberation; burning their clothes when they left; and helping to establish a treatment center in Cham for concentration camp survivors. Mr. B. discusses total ignorance of concentration camps and lack of preparation to encounter them; difficulties treating the prisoners due to their debilitated states; and the high death rates after liberation.

Author/Creator
B., Harry, 1922-
Published
Auburn, Me. : Holocaust Human Rights Center of Maine, 1992
Interview Date
December 4, 1992.
Locale
Cham (Germany)
Language
English
Copies
2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Cite As
Harry B. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2402). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.