Six Holocaust survivors: Fred Katz, Esther Gever, Jacob Wiener, Eva Abraham-Podietz, Robert Behr, and Herbert Karliner, recount their personal experiences during the Kristallnacht Pogrom and the events that followed.This video compilation was created by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum with footage from the USC Shoah Foundation Institute’s archive. (Running time: 21.35)
kristallnacht, exhibit, ushmm, clip reel, education / Monday, April 29, 2013
Irene recounts her experience of being liberated by the British Army from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany in April 1945. Irene Weiss was born Irene Traub on August 2, 1919, in Halmeu, a small Jewish community in Romania. In March 1944, Irene, her parents, and seven siblings were deported to the Szatmar ghetto in Transylvania where they stayed for two months. In June 1944, Irene was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau where she was separated from her parents, who would perish in the gas chambers, and began work as a forced laborer.
liberation, female, clip, exhibit, survivor, Irene Weiss / Monday, April 29, 2013
/ Monday, April 29, 2013
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.
discrimination, kristallnacht / Monday, April 29, 2013
Seven Holocaust survivors and liberators share their perspectives and recollections of liberation. Click on the thumbnails to watch.
/ Tuesday, April 30, 2013
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.
liberation, exhibit, survivor, male, clip, martin aaron / Tuesday, April 30, 2013
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.
liberation, liberator, exhibit, male, survivor, clip, Kurt Klein / Tuesday, April 30, 2013
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.
liberation, survivor, exhibit, female, clip, gerda klein / Tuesday, April 30, 2013
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).
liberation, liberator, exhibit, male, clip, Bernard Bermack / Tuesday, April 30, 2013
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.
liberation, female, exhibit, clip, Charlotte Chaney / Tuesday, April 30, 2013
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.
liberation, survivor, exhibit, clip, female, Rose Kaplovitz / Tuesday, April 30, 2013
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.
/ Tuesday, April 30, 2013
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.
jewish survivor, clip, prewar, male, alex chevion / Saturday, May 4, 2013
Steve recalls how Jewish kids were harassed at school and Polish kids and Jewish kids played separately.
jewish survivor, prewar, clip, male, Steve Lewkowicz / Saturday, May 4, 2013
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  
jewish survivor, prewar, clip, female, margaret lambert / Saturday, May 4, 2013
These testimony segments focus on descriptions of home life, family events, religious observances, and education before the occurrence of genocide.
prewar, tcv / Saturday, May 4, 2013
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.
hiding, jewish survivor, clip, male, hy abrahms / Sunday, May 5, 2013
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.
hiding, jewish survivor, clip, female, marcia spies / Sunday, May 5, 2013
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  
hiding, jewish survivor, clip, female, kristine keren / Sunday, May 5, 2013
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
hiding, tcv / Sunday, May 5, 2013
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.
ghetto, jewish survivor, clip, male, henry greenblatt / Sunday, May 5, 2013
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.
ghetto, jewish survivor, clip, male, nathan peters / Sunday, May 5, 2013
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.
ghetto, jewish survivor, clip, female, helen fagin / Sunday, May 5, 2013
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.
ghetto, tcv / Sunday, May 5, 2013
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.
camps, jewish survivor, clip, female, erna anolik / Sunday, May 5, 2013
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.
camps, jewish survivor, clip, male, George Gottlieb / Sunday, May 5, 2013
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  
camps, jewish survivor, clip, male, ellis lewin / Sunday, May 5, 2013
"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.
camps, tcv / Sunday, May 5, 2013
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.
liberation, jewish survivor, clip, female, esther bem / Sunday, May 5, 2013
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.
liberation, liberator, clip, male, James Hayes / Sunday, May 5, 2013

Pages