- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Max M., who was born in Neutitschein, Czechoslovakia (presently Nový Jičín) in 1920, the oldest of five children. He recalls attending business school; an apprenticeship in Brno; assisting Austrian Jews to escape; German occupation; returning home; destruction of the synagogue on Kristallnacht; his father's arrest; his release after promising to leave; the family's move to Ungarisch Brod (presently Uherský Brod) in January 1939; working with Romanies, one of whom he later encountered in Auschwitz/Birkenau; one brother's arrest; marriage in 1942; choosing not to emigrate to Palestine in order to stay with his family; their deportation to Theresienstadt, then Auschwitz/Birkenau in winter 1943; selection with two brothers for labor (he never saw the rest of his family again); deciding not to commit suicide in order to care for his younger brothers; slave labor; one brother's death in March; assistance from a non-Jewish prisoner-doctor when he was ill; transfer to Warsaw with only non-Polish prisoners and his brother; cleaning the former ghetto; transfer in summer 1944 to Dachau; slave labor in Allach and Karlsfeld for BMW; his brother's transfer in January 1945; reunion with him in Ampfing; liberation by United States troops in April; returning home; marriage to a non-Jew; their daughter's birth; moving to Munich; and working for the Joint.
Mr. M. discusses details of incidents in camps; learning his other brother had perished; many non-Jews who helped him; continuing friendships with fellow prisoners; naming his children for relatives who were killed; his brother's successful career; testifying at war crime trials; his book about his experiences; scars and physical problems resulting from his experiences; and speaking to student groups.
- Author/Creator
- M., Max, 1920-
- Published
- Potsdam, Germany : Moses Mendelsohn Zentrum für europäisch-jüdische Studien, Universität Potsdam, 1996
- Interview Date
- June 23, 1996.
- Locale
- Germany
Czechoslovakia
Nový Jičín (Czech Republic)
Brno (Czech Republic)
Uherský Brod (Czech Republic)
Munich (Germany)
- Cite As
- Max M. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-3715). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
- Other Authors/Editors
- Bauer, Eva, interviewer.
Gelbin, Cathy S., interviewer.
- Notes
-
This testimony is in German.
Related publication: Vzpomínky : Terezín, Osvetim, Varsava, Dachau / Max Mannheimer; [prelozil Martin Schulz]. Vyd. 1. München : Obrys/ Kontur, c1986.
