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Eli W. Holocaust testimony (HVT-2512) interviewed by Sarah Hirschfield and Raymond Kaplan,

Oral History | Digitized | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-2512

Overview

Summary: Videotape testimony of Eli W., who was born in the United States and grew up in a secular home, observing Jewish holidays. He recounts enlisting in the United States Army after Pearl Harbor; training as a tank officer; serving in the Third Army, 11th Armored Division; fighting under Patton in southern Europe and the Battle of the Bulge; capture near Malmedy; observing from a distance the Germans shooting all the American prisoners; immediately escaping; rejoining his unit; the pervasive stench when approaching Mauthausen; entering in the lead tank; shock at the condition of the prisoners; taking photographs which they later discarded; feeding the prisoners, not realizing it was harmful; piles of corpses; compelling locals, who denied knowledge of the camp, to bury the bodies; not discussing this experience for many years, despite it having changed him; briefly administering a displaced persons camp; and recently sharing his experience with his children, grandchildren, and school classes.
Author/Creator: W., Eli, 1921-
Published: Mahwah, N.J. : Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, 1994
Interview Date: February 25, 1994.
Locale: Belgium
Cite As: Eli W. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-2512). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
Other Authors/Editors: Hirschfield, Sarah, interviewer.
Kaplan, Raymond, interviewer.

Physical Details

Language: English
Copies: 2 copies: 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
Physical Description: 1 videorecording (1 hr., 13 min.) : col

Keywords & Subjects

Subjects (Local Yale): Postwar experiences.
Postwar effects.
Liberator.
Subjects: Video tapes. Men. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Jewish. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American. World War, 1939-1945--Participation, American. World War, 1939-1945--Participation, Jewish. World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities. Prisoners of war--Belgium. Escapes--Belgium. Refugee camps. Oral histories (document genres) W., Eli,--1921- Mauthausen (Concentration camp) United States.--Army.--Armored Division, 11th.

Administrative Notes

Holder of Originals: Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
Special Collection: Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies

Link to Yale University Library Catalog:: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/4318178
Record last modified:: 2018-05-29 11:47:00
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt4318178

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