This exhibit features a series of interviews with witnesses of the pogrom that occurred on November 9-10, 1938, known as Kristallnacht, "Night of Broken Glass." Organized in partnership with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Seven Holocaust survivors and liberators share their perspectives and recollections of liberation. Click on the thumbnails to watch.

Martin relates his experience of being liberated from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany in April 1945. Martin Aaron was born April 21, 1929, in Teresva, Czechoslovakia. Growing up in the nearby Jewish community of Sapanta, Romania, Martin recalls experiencing antisemitism, which intensified after Hungary annexed the area in 1940. In 1944, the Hungarians and Germans forced Martin, his parents, and five siblings to move into the Tacovo ghetto before they were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Kurt describes liberating survivors of a death march in May 1945, in Volary, Czechoslovakia, including his first encounter with his future wife, Gerda. Kurt Klein was born July 2, 1920, in Walldorf, Germany. As the Nazi persecution of German Jews intensified, Kurt’s parents decided to send him and his siblings to live with distant relatives in Buffalo, New York, where he worked in various jobs, including the printing business, trying to raise enough money to bring his parents to the United States. Kurt was drafted into the United States Army in 1943.

Gerda describes being liberated by the United States Army and encountering her future husband, U.S. Army Lt. Kurt Klein, in Volary, Czechoslovakia, in May 1945. Gerda Klein was born Gerda Weissmann on May 8, 1924, in Bielsko, Poland. Gerda and her brother, Arthur, grew up relatively unaware of the spread of Nazism, until Poland was invaded in 1939; soon after, Arthur was taken away on a transport. In April 1942, Gerda and her parents were ordered into the Bielsko ghetto.

Bernard relates his experience as an American GI liberating the Gunskirchen concentration camp in Austria in May 1945. Bernard Bermack was born April 3, 1922, in St. Louis, Missouri. Bernard entered the United States Army on October 7, 1942. After receiving training as an artillery specialist, Bernard went overseas as a member of Patton’s Third Army. In May 1945, he was dispatched to serve in an aid organization, the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA).

Charlotte shares her experience as a U.S. Army nurse who participated in the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp in Germany in May 1945. Charlotte Chaney was born Charlotte Ellner on October 15, 1921, in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Charlotte was trained as a nurse and then volunteered for the Army Air Corps in 1944. That same year she married United States Navyman Bernard Chaney. In May 1945, Charlotte was sent to Europe as a part of the Red Cross, not knowing she was about to take part in the liberation of Dachau concentration camp.

Rose describes her realization that the war had ended and her experience of being liberated from Ober Altstadt labor camp in Czechoslovakia in May 1945. Rose Kaplovitz was born Rozia Zaks on September 6, 1930, in Sosnowiec, Poland. Rose remembers her childhood in the Jewish community on the Polish-German border as relatively happy and secure. However, on the second day of the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, Rose witnessed her brother’s execution by German officers.

As the Allies retook control of lands that had been occupied by the Germans, they came across many Nazi camps. In some instances, the Nazis had tried to destroy all evidence of the camps, in order to conceal from the world what had happened there. In other cases, only the buildings remained as the Nazis had sent the prisoners elsewhere, often on death marches.

Alex recalls listening to Adolf Hitler's radio addresses before the war. He remembers how Polish Jews living in Germany were expelled from the country.

Steve recalls how Jewish kids were harassed at school and Polish kids and Jewish kids played separately.

Margaret Lambert speaks about her childhood and relationship with her immediate family in pre-war Germany. She discusses her Jewish identity. Gender: FemaleDOB: April 12, 1914City of Birth: Laupheim (Germany)Country of Birth: GermanyGhettos: N/AWent into hiding: NoOther experiences: N/A  

These testimony segments focus on descriptions of home life, family events, religious observances, and education before the occurrence of genocide.

Jewish Survivor Hy remembers his father's decision to hide the family after Jews were ordered to leave their homes. He recalls the betrayal of his family by a man they knew.

Jewish Survivor During the war, Marcia hid with a family with two older daughters who were very kind to her. This was a huge sacrifice this family took to keep Marcia in their home.

Jewish Survivor Kristine Keren remembers how she and her father escaped from the Lwów ghetto in Poland and spent fourteen months hiding in the sewers beneath the city. Gender: Female DOB: October 28, 1935 City of Birth: Lwów (Poland) Country of Birth: Poland Ghettos: Lwów (Poland : Ghetto) Went into hiding: Yes Other experiences: ghetto escapes, roundup evasion  

These testimony segments focus on physical concealment (as an individual or part of a family) to avoid ghettoization, incarceration, deporation, or other forms of persecution

Jewish Survivor Henry talks about living in the Warsaw ghetto. He tells of his efforts to acquire food for his family and describes how he snuck in and out of the ghetto through rain gutters.

Jewish Survivor Nathan recalls sharing a living space with his family in the ghetto and how they didn't get to shower everyday. He also recalls that children were not as concerned as the adults but wondered when everything was going to end.

Jewish Survivor Helen Fagin decribes the 'cultural resistance' through education in the Radomsko ghetto in Poland. She explains how reading a Polish translation of Gone With the Wind allowed her and her students to at least temporarily dream of a different world outside the reality of the ghetto.

This theme focuses on how the Nazis forced large numbers of Jews into restricted housing areas, often enforced with walls, fences, and/or guard towers. Movement in and out of the ghettos was strictly controlled and violation was punishable by death.

Jewish Survivor Erna recalls arrival and intake procedures at Auschwitz-Birkenau. She describes the fate of newly arrived internees. Erna talks about volunteering for work, a measure she employed in vain to be reunited with her parents.

Jewish Survivor George recalls a guard who allowed George and his brother 20 minutes to find their mother inside of a camp. It was the last time they saw her.

Jewish Survivor Ellis Lewin remembers arrival at Auschwitz and separation of family members. He explains his parents' efforts to survive the selection. Gender: MaleDOB: May 22, 1932City of Birth: Lódz (Poland)Country of Birth: PolandGhettos: Lódz (Poland : Ghetto)Went into hiding: YesOther experiences: Displaced persons camps  

"Concentration Camps" or "Labor Camps" were facilities in which people were incarcerated on the basis of their political and/or religious beliefs or ethnicity, usually without regard to due process.

Jewish Survivor Esther talks about her lack of awareness of wartime political events while hiding in Italy. She describes her liberation by members of the Jewish Brigade. Esther speaks of her struggle with identity which ensued after liberation from living in both hiding and under a false name.

Liberator James recalls 10 days of fighting Germans until they surrendered. While searching for a place for the American soldiers to stay for the night, he encountered a barrack with prisoners. He describes the horrors of those images as well as his efforts to get medical attention to the survivors.

Jewish Survivor Irene recounts her experience of being liberated by the British Army from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany in April 1945. She describes that by the time of her liberation she was too sick and too desensitized by her experiences to feel any emotions even though she realized the war was over.

Liberation is typically characterized by the arrival of Allied forces. Interviewees tell of liberation from concentration camps, or during death marches, or may describe liberation upon emergence from hiding.