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Oral history interview with Henry Wermuth

Oral History | Digitized | Accession Number: 1995.A.1285.56 | RG Number: RG-50.149.0056

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    Oral history interview with Henry Wermuth

    Overview

    Interview Summary
    Henry Wermuth, born April 4, 1923, describes his family background; life in Frankfurt, Germany during 1930s; his education; religious practice in his family; antisemitism before 1933; reaction to Hitler coming to power in 1933; increasing antisemitism; working for his uncle; attempting to emigrate; going to Krakow, Poland in October 1938; queuing in a tunnel at border; living with relatives; the German occupation; the black market; the arrest of his father; life in Bohemia, where he lived with his grandparents, from 1941 to 1942; living in a Bohemia ghetto; the role of the Judenrat; feigning tuberculosis to avoid being registered for work; working at the Klaj ammunition camp; the deportation of his mother and sister; life and conditions in the Klaj camp; beginning to a write book in the camp; escaping from the camp; attempting to derail a train; being in the Montelupe prison then sent back to Klaj; being sent to Płaszów concentration camp in February 1943; his work duties; Commandant Goeth shooting at inmates; conditions in the camp; the role of Jewish police; hiding with a Jewish policeman’s relative to avoid execution; witnessing a public hanging; the regularity of shootings; being shot at by Goeth; his work unloading bricks from trains; transfers from the camp; getting into Kielcz (Kielce) concentration camp with his father in November 1943; civilian management of the camp; unloading metal from trains; food rations; the escape of inmates; being sent by cattle truck to Auschwitz in July 1944; arriving in the camp; hearing the camp orchestra; his work building roads; the relationship between block leader and inmates; difficulties for orthodox Jews; his attitude towards religion; selections; working as painter at IG Farben works and working with civilian employees; the relationship between inmates and Kapos; the daily routine; being sent to Nordhausen by cattle truck in January 1945; being briefly interned at camp in the Harz mountains; being interned at Helmstedt camp (Beendorf concentration camp); his work duties; the execution of inmates who were too weak to work; a march following the evacuation from the camp in April 1945; helping his father to walk; his father’s death on April 27, 1945; being interned at Mauthausen; problems with dysentery; being liberated by American troops on May 5, 1945; recovering in a hospital tent; registering for emigration to Palestine; living in a refugee camp in Italy; deciding not to emigrate to Palestine; his attitude towards other people's survival stories; his involvement in the black market; traveling to Austria in December 1945; moving to refugee camps in Munich, Germany and Frankfurt, Germany; writing his autobiography; his attitude towards Germans; his determination to be successful; and his attitude towards the death of his sister.
    Interviewee
    Henry Wermuth
    Date
    interview:  1986 October

    Physical Details

    Language
    English
    Extent
    13 sound cassettes (90 min.).

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
    Conditions on Use
    Restrictions on use. Permission to copy and/or use recordings in any production must be granted by the Imperial War Museums.

    Keywords & Subjects

    Topical Term
    Antisemitism. Black market--Poland--Kraków. Concentration camp escapes. Concentration camp inmates' writings. Concentration camps--Psychological aspects. Death march survivors. Death marches. Forced labor. Hanging. Holocaust survivors. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Germany--Personal narratives. Jewish councils. Jewish ghettos--Czech Republic. Jewish police officers. Jewish refugees--Germany. Jewish refugees--Italy. Jews, German--Poland. Jews--Germany--Frankfurt am Main. Jews--Persecutions--Poland. Jews--Poland--Kraków. Kapos. Refugee camps--Italy. Road construction industry. Shooting (Execution) Tuberculosis. Weapons industry. World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Liberation. World War, 1939-1945--Conscript labor. World War, 1939-1945--Medical care. World War, 1939-1945--Songs and music. Men--Personal narratives. Prisons
    Personal Name
    Wermuth, Henry.

    Administrative Notes

    Holder of Originals
    Imperial War Museum
    Provenance
    The interview was conducted by the Imperial War Museum as part of their retrospective oral history interview program. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum acquired a copy of the interview with Henry Wermuth from the Imperial War Museum in February 1995.
    Record last modified:
    2023-11-16 08:17:33
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn510859

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