Overview
- Interview Summary
- Werner Joe Becker, born in 1915 in Webel, Germany (possibly Webelsfelde in Mühlen Eichsen), discusses his parents who came from West Prussia; his brother and sister; his father’s clothing store and his good relations with non-Jewish customers; learning French, English, and Latin in high school; moving to France in 1933 with a friend and staying in Nancy for a year; moving to Dijon, France and attending a university; not being allowed to work in France; joining the Foreign Legion on November 27, 1939; being sent to North Africa; leaving the Foreign Legion in 1940; living in Oran, Algeria; being placed under the “Companies of Foreign Workers” for which he was not paid; doing roadwork; the Allied landings in North Africa; joining the Royal Mechanical and Electrical Engineers (REME), and working on military trucks; going to Italy and doing the same work for REME; being released from the British Army; moving to Rome; returning to France before immigrating to the United States, where his brother have moved in 1936; living in Dayton, OH; getting married; having difficulty finding a job; and his work for the National Cash Register Company (NCR).
- Interviewee
- Werner Becker
- Date
-
interview:
1978 September 13
Physical Details
- Language
- English
- Extent
-
1 sound cassette (120 min.).
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Automobile mechanics. Forced labor. Holocaust survivors. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. Jewish soldiers--France. Jews--Germany. World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Africa, North. World War, 1939-1945--Veterans--France. World War, 1939-1945--Veterans--Great Britain. Men--Personal narratives.
- Geographic Name
- Africa, North. Algiers (Algeria) Dayton (Ohio) Dijon (France) Mühlen Eichsen (Germany) Nancy (France) Oran (Algeria) Rome (Italy) United States--Emigration and immigration.
- Personal Name
- Becker, Werner.
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
Special Collections and Archives, Paul Laurence Dunbar Library, Wright State University
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- Wright State University conducted the interview with Werner Becker on September 13, 1978 in preparation for the program, "Faces of the Holocaust." The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives received a copy of the interview on July 7, 1995.
- Special Collection
-
The Jeff and Toby Herr Oral History Archive
- Record last modified:
- 2023-11-16 08:27:18
- This page:
- http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn510455
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Also in Oral history interviews of the Emmanuel Ringelblum collection of Oral History Memoirs of the Holocaust
The interviews, conducted from 1977 to 1991, discuss the experiences of thirty-four Holocaust survivors from the Dayton area. While not all interviewees were imprisoned in concentration camps, each had his or her life greatly changed by the Holocaust, The videotape versions of the interviews were used to create the program, "Faces of the Holocaust."
Date: 1977-1991
Oral history interview with Helen Abramovitz
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Helen Abramowitz, born in 1927 in Nevaraska, Czechoslovakia, discusses her childhood; her parents, who were both from the Bohemia region; her parents’ relocation to Nevaraska after her father graduated from medical school in Vienna; her parents’ work as doctors; attending a German public school for four years until it no longer felt safe because of the rise of antisemitism; attending a Czech public school; her parents’ separation in 1937; her mother living in Prague while she stayed with her father; her father’s immigration to the United States in 1938 after the Munich Agreement; living in Prague with her mother; going with her mother to Paris, France and then going alone to New York City (her mother later traveled to the US); attending a boarding school in Connecticut; feeling unwanted by her parents; studying at Ohio State University, where she met her husband, Chuck; getting married after graduating from college; traveling to Israel once a year; her thoughts on antisemitism; and her life in Dayton, OH.
Oral history interview with Carmen Appel
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Carmen May Appel, born in 1907 in Worms, Germany, discusses her family’s move to Frankfurt when she was two years old; sharing a room with her grandmother; having a religious education; learning Hebrew; going with her father to the synagogue every Friday; moving with her family to Zurich, Switzerland when she was six years old; attending school, where she was the only Jewish girl; feeling accepted by her peers; celebrating Hanukkah with her family every year; her father being drafted by the German army in 1914; returning to Frankfurt circa 1918; speaking German and learning French and English; working as a secretary in one of the largest companies in Europe; her father’s immigration to the United States; getting married in 1933 and having a daughter in 1935; applying for visas to the leave Germany; leaving Frankfurt on November 9, 1938; the arrest of her brother-in-law during Kristallnacht and his imprisonment in Buchenwald concentration camp; arriving in New York City and living there for 18 months; moving to Dayton, OH; her son’s birth in 1949; and her grandchildren.
Oral history interview with Donald Bender
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Oral history interview with John Farnbacher
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Oral history interview with Paul Leeser
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Oral history interview with Lillie Levine
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Oral history interview with Hans Liebermann
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Hans Liebermann, born September 9, 1900, discusses his childhood in Beuthen, Upper Silesia; his schooling; speaking only German at home; the start of World War I when he was 14 years old; being inducted into the army; his post-war educational pursuits; graduating medical school in 1923; his marriage in 1928; living in Leibitz; being part of a small percentage of Jews living in Leibitz; early Nazi marches during 1931-1932; being active in the Central Organization of German Citizens of Jewish Faith; the collapse of the Geneva Treaty in 1937 and subsequent antisemitic laws and treatment by Gestapo; a relative using bribery to obtain three visas for his family; moving to the United States in 1938; the challenges he encountered trying to start a practice in the United States; and his many visits to Germany.
Oral history interview with Lottie Liebermann
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Oral history interview with Jerzy Lubelfeld
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Oral history interview with Lydia May
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Oral history interview with Ben Muler
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Oral history interview with Bernice Muler
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Oral history interview with Hannah Northway
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Oral history interview with Sig Sanders
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Oral history interview with Helga Silbermann
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Oral history interview with Henry Steeber
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Oral history interview with Abe Stine
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