German Portal Video Clips

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  Simon Wiesenthal on the mutual struggle against National Socialism

  Language: German

  Recalling his time held in different concentration camps where he met several inhabitants who were not Jewish, Simon Wiesenthal addresses the need to provide a united front in fighting against another recurrence.
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  Albrecht Becker on gay life in 1934 Germany

  Language: German

  Albrecht Becker recounts the atmosphere for gays in Nazi Germany while Röhm was still in charge of the SA and how the relative freedom he enjoyed during that time changed dramatically after Röhm's assassination in June 1934.
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  Mietek Pemper on the creation of the Schindler’s list

  Language: German

  Mieczyslaw (Mietek) Pemper typed up the actual Schindler’s list and was saved by Oskar Schindler. Pemper speaks (in German) about Schindler and how he bribed and used personal connections to save hundreds of Jews. Pemper also describes how he came to work with Schindler and help in the creation of the list.

   
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  Albrecht Becker on his arrest

  Language: German

  In this clip from his testimony, Albrecht Becker recalls the circumstances of his arrest and a particular member of the Gestapo by the name of Gerun who may have saved his life.
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  Karl Stojka on Auschwitz

  Language: German

  Karl Stojka was born to a Roma family on April 20, 1931 in Wampersdorf, Lower Austria. His parents Maria Stojka and Karl Horvath travelled as horse traders with their kids in a trailer. Karl had three sisters, Katharina, Margareta, Amalia, and two brothers, Johann and Josef.

  In 1938, the Nazis forced the family Stojka to settle in Vienna. Like his older siblings, Karl went to school until his father was arrested in 1940. From this point on, the anti-Sinti and Roma measures persisted, and in 1943, Karl, his mother and his five siblings were arrested and deported to the Auschwitz II-Birkenau extermination camp. They were housed in the barracks of the Zigeunerlager (German: "Gypsy camp")—part of Birkenau designated for Roma and Sinti prisoners. Karl was forced to work in the quarry and in the canteen, where he was able to steal food for himself and his family. In 1944, he and his brother Johann were transported to the Buchenwald concentration camp and later transferred to the Flossenbürg concentration camp. During the evacuation of Flossenbürg in April 1945, thousands of the camp inmates, including Karl and Johann, were forced to march towards Dachau. The two brothers were able to flee during the death march.

  After his liberation on April 24, 1945 by American troops, Karl Stojka was living as an artist in the United States of America and in Austria. The interview was conducted in Vienna, Austria on April 15, 1998. The interviewer: Eva Ribarits, the cameraman: Oskar Goldberger.
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  Johann Stojka on Auschwitz

  Language: German

  Johann Stojka was born to a Roma family on March 20, 1929 in Vienna, Austria. He spent most of his childhood travelling in a trailer with his parents Maria Stojka, Karl Horvath and his five siblings, Katharina, Karl, Margareta, Amalia and Josef. His parents made a living by trading horses.

  On Nazi command in 1938 the family settled in Vienna, where Johann went to school until his father was arrested in 1940. In 1943, Johann got arrested and transported to the Auschwitz IIBirkenau extermination camp, where he and his family were housed in the barracks of the Zigeunerlager (German: "Gypsy camp")—part of Birkenau designated for Roma and Sinti prisoners. Fourteen years of age, Johann was considered to be fit for work and therefore assigned to compulsory labor. In 1944, he and his brother were first transported to the Buchenwald concentration camp and subsequently transferred to the Flossenbürg concentration camp in 1945. In April of 1945, all inmates of Flossenbürg, including Johann and his brother Karl, were forced to depart the camp under stringent security. Johann and his brother were able to escape the death march and were rescued by American troops on April 24. Johann’s parents and sisters survived as well, his youngest brother died in Auschwitz IIBirkenau of a typhus infection. After liberation Johann Stojka returned to Vienna.

  The interview was conducted in Vienna, Austria on April 22, 1998. The interviewer: Eva Ribarits, the cameraman: Oskar Goldberger.
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  Albrecht Becker on post-war silence about the Holocaust

  Language: German

  Albrecht Becker describes how in the immediate aftermath of liberation Germans, including German Jews, were silent about Nazi atrocities in an attempt to return to a normal as soon as possible.