- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Hildegard W., who was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1912. Mrs. W. describes her liberal Protestant childhood; unfamiliarity with Judaism and antisemitism before marrying a Jew in 1931; early Nazi anti-Semitic acts which they and others did not take seriously; their reluctance to abandon their successful business; the birth of her sons in 1933 and 1935; and a vacation in the Hartz mountains in 1936 during which an encounter with Nazis convinced her husband to emigrate. She recalls increased intimidation; the arrest of a homosexual employee; preparations to leave; and their departure in 1937 in the guise of a vacation to Switzerland. She discusses staying in Italy while seeking United States visas; an attempt by a German industrialist to recruit them for arms smuggling; their departure for the U.S. via Rotterdam in late 1938; unsuccessful attempts to persuade her brother-in-law to emigrate (he died at Terezín); and impressions from a 1984 trip to West Germany.
- Author/Creator
- W., Hildegard, 1912-
- Published
- New Haven, Conn. : Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale, 1987
- Interview Date
- August 14, 1987.
- Locale
- Germany
Berlin (Germany)
Italy
- Cite As
- Hildegard W. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-937). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
- Other Authors/Editors
- Vlock, Laurel, interviewer.
