- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Hans Werner H., who was born in Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany in 1924. He recounts his father was Jewish and his mother converted to Judaism; his family's affluence; six half-siblings from his father's previous marriage (one was killed in World War I, the others emigrated); attending school; antisemitic harassment; destruction of the synagogue during Kristallnacht; his father's three-week incarceration in 1938; expulsion from school; attending a Jewish vocational training program in Hamburg; working as a locksmith; his father's death in August 1941; his burial in Słubice; working on Jewish agricultural camps; forced labor in several German forest camps; transfer to a camp for Jews with one non-Jewish parent; meeting his future wife; transfer back to Frankfurt; incarceration in the Jewish hospital in Berlin; forced labor; deportation with his future wife to Theresienstadt; sham improvements prior to a Red Cross visit; liberation by Soviet troops; returning home; reunion with his mother; working as a policeman; becoming a public prosecutor; and his daughter's birth. Mr. H. discusses the importance of never losing hope and psychological support of friends to his survival; Leo Baeck's speech in Theresienstadt; “leaving Judaism” due to his experiences; limited job opportunities in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) because he was Jewish; identifying with the anti-fascist stance of the GDR; and futile attempts to recover family property. He shows documents and objects.
- Author/Creator
- H., Hans Werner, 1924-
- Published
- Potsdam, Germany : Moses Mendelssohn Zentrum für europäisch-jüdische Studien, Universität Potsdam, 1995
- Interview Date
- September 26, 1995.
- Locale
- Germany
Frankfurt an der Oder (Germany)
Hamburg (Germany)
Słubice (Województwo Lubuskie, Poland)
Berlin (Germany)
- Cite As
- Hans Werner H. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-3404). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
- Other Authors/Editors
- Diekmann, Irene, interviewer.
Lezzi, Eva, interviewer.
- Notes
-
This testimony is in German.
