In 1941, the Nazi regime, ordered the Jews in Germany to wear a Yellow Star of David inscribed with the word Jude (Jew). The following year, in June 1942, Jews in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Slovakia, and other lands under German control were ordered to begin wearing Yellow Stars.  Betty Gerard shows the Yellow Star with the word Jood (Jew in Dutch) she was forced to wear as a child in the Westerbork Concentration Camp in the Netherlands.

Dr. Bertram Schaffner, who served in the U.S Army during World War II as a psychiatrist evaluating the mental fitness of draftees, speaks about the discriminatory laws and regulations against homosexuals in the U.S. Army and his efforts to protect their privacy.

On June 5, 1942, the Nazis reported having killed 97,000 Jews in specially constructed gas vans. Friedrich August Jeckeln — who served as an SS and police leader in the occupied Soviet Union during World War II — testified in 1945 that Reich Leader Heinrich Himmler, who organized the mass murder of Jews, told him shootings were too impractical, so gas vans were devised as a more efficient system. The method was initially used against the mentally insane in Polish hospitals in 1939. By 1942 the Nazis had begun to deploy more than 36 of these specially designed and equipped vans.

Born in Coburg, Germany, on Nov 17, 1923, Harry Nomburg fled from Germany to the United Kingdom and fought with the British armed forces. He was attached as an interpreter to Commando Force. In this clip, Harry recalls landing on Normandy on D-Day, June 6.

Branko Lustig, who served as one of the producers on Schindler’s List reflects upon his experience when he returned to Auschwitz during the making of the 1980s television mini-series “War and Remembrance.”

Anna Heilman remembers fleeing from a burning building and making her way to the Aryan side during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943. Anna relates she was rounded up by the SS on May 3, 1943, was transported back and taken directly to the “Umschlagplatz” in the ghetto. She describes the liquidation of the Warsaw ghetto. Anna, along with her sister and parents, was deported to the Majdanek concentration camp that May.

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When Holocaust survivor Eva Schloss was 23 years old her mother Fritzi married Otto Frank, making her the posthumous stepsister to Anne Frank, who had died eight years earlier in a concentration camp. Like Anne, Eva went into hiding in Holland, and was betrayed, captured, and sent to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Years later Eva’s daughter, Caroline Anne Schloss, was named for Anne, and reminded Otto of his late daughter. Although they were not close friends, Eva remembers meeting Anne and playing with her as a child.

Survivor Gad Ben-Meir recalls the Baghdad Pogrom of June 1-2, 1941, during the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, and what he saw looking out his window as a 9-year-old boy.

Sarah Ditman remembers witnessing the occupation of Paris, her city of birth, when the German armed forces invaded France on June 14, 1940. She recalls with sadness that as a young woman, she watched out her window as German soldiers were marching down the Champs-Elysées.

Marie speaks of her fondness for her father. She especially remembers not wanting to share his affection with her baby brother. “ I wanted to be the only one.” However, Marie notes that life for her family changed in 1939.

Hildegard recalls her trip from Shanghai, China to San Francisco, CA, on the board of the U.S. Army transporter “Marine  Adder,” in August 1947.  She explains that the trip was sponsored by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC).

Eva reflects on the living conditions she had as a child living in Shanghai, China during the war and recalls her daily activities.

Judith describes the overcrowded housing conditions in the Hongkew ghetto in Shanghai, China and discusses the general lack of privacy.

Miriam explains that the Jewish refugees living in Shanghai, China had no intention to stay there once the war ended, and that helped them to retain hope in surviving the war.

Berthold Katz talks about Kanoh Ghoya, a Japanese official responsible for giving monthly passes to Jews who were living in the Hongkew ghetto in Shanghai, China and remembers his brutal treatment of the ghetto inhabitants.