Overview
- Interview Summary
- Harold Healy discusses his experiences during WWII; being a 23-year-old Captain in 1945 assigned as the Operations Officer in a Light Field Artillery Battalion of the 42nd Rainbow Division, which had chased the German Army into Austria; writing a letter at the end of the war to his parents and brother describing his experience when he visited the Dachau concentration camp about a week after its capture; he remembers how the smell of dead bodies confined in 50 railway cars still permeated the area; the experience proving to be unforgettable and fortifying his belief in the righteousness of the involvement of the US in World War II; and remaining in Austria, where he was involved with occupation duties, until his return to the US in August 1946.
- Interviewee
- Harold Healy
- Interviewer
- Debbie F. Benezra
- Date
-
interview:
1995 July 15
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Survivors and Surviving Generations of the Holocaust
Physical Details
- Language
- English
- Extent
-
1 videocassette (VHS) : sound, color ; 1/2 in..
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
- Concentration camp inmates. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Jews--Persecutions--Europe. Soldiers--United States--Correspondence. World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Liberation. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American. World War, 1939-1945--Veterans--United States. Men--Personal narratives.
- Geographic Name
- Austria. United States.
- Personal Name
- Healy, Harold.
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
Survivors and Surviving Generations of the Holocaust
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The interview with Harold Healy was conducted on July 15, 1995, by the Surviving Generations of the Holocaust as part of a project documenting the testimonies of members of the 42nd Rainbow Division whom participated in the liberation of Dachau. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum received a copy of the interview in March 1997.
- Special Collection
-
The Jeff and Toby Herr Oral History Archive
- Record last modified:
- 2023-11-16 08:41:22
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn513246
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- This record is digitized but cannot be downloaded online.
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