- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Hans-Peter M., who was born in Charlottenburg, Germany in 1919. He recalls his family's assimilated life; cordial relations with non-Jews until the 1930s; attending gymnasium; a non-Jewish teacher urging the Jewish students to emigrate (many did); his father's arrest during Kristallnacht and subsequent release; futile efforts to emigrate; forced labor in Berlin; marriage in September 1942; helping a friend smuggle a baby out of Berlin; his family volunteering for deportation in 1943, hoping to remain together; separation from his family upon arrival at Auschwitz (he never saw them again); transfer to Buna/Monowitz; slave labor for I. G. Farben; his privileged position as an engineer; a German giving him extra food; smuggling letters out via a Polish civilian worker; helping less-privileged prisoners; public executions; a death march to Gleiwitz in January 1945; train transport to Buchenwald; transfer to Theresienstadt; surgery in the hospital; liberation by Soviet troops; returning to Berlin; and learning he was the sole survivor of his family. Mr. M. discusses the importance of friendship groups, believing he would survive, and luck to his survival; the camp hierarchy; writing a book from notes taken in Theresienstadt; reluctance to share his experiences, even with his son; and very recently speaking about his experiences in schools.
- Author/Creator
- M., Hans-Peter, 1919-
- Published
- Potsdam, Germany : Moses Mendelssohn Zentrum für europäisch-jüdische Studien, Universität Potsdam, 1995
- Interview Date
- June 13, 1995.
- Locale
- Germany
Berlin (Germany)
Charlottenburg (Berlin, Germany)
- Cite As
- Hans-Peter M. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-3397). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
- Other Authors/Editors
- Preisler, Maximilian, interviewer.
Cohn, Matthias, interviewer.
- Notes
-
This testimony is in German.
