Description
Object description
German Jewish schoolchild and civilian in Munich, Germany, 1933-1939; refugee in GB, 1939-1940; private served with No 219 Coy, Pioneer Corps in GB, 1940-1943; driver mechanic served with Royal Tank Regt in GB and India, 1943-1944; NCO served with General Headquarters India in New Delhi, India, 1944-1946
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Munich, Germany, 1921-1933: family holidays; education. Recollections of period as schoolchild in Munich, Germany, 1933-1939: impact of Nazi regime on education; employment as brewer's apprentice after leaving school; details of father Michael Siegel's background; question of discussion of politics at home; details of mother Mathilde Siegel's background; his sister's experience of coming to GB, 1939; parent's escape to Peru, 1940; experiences of anti-Semitism; impact of anti-Semitism on sense of Jewishness.
REEL 2 Continues: restrictions against Jews under Nazi regime; difficulties regarding emigration; impact of Kristallnacht on parents, 9/11/1938-10/11/1938; experiences in aftermath of Kristallnacht, 9/11/1938-10/11/1938; incident when father was assaulted and forced to wear placard denouncing Jews whilst marching through streets, 1933; attempts of his parents to shield their children from events; relations with Jewish and non-Jewish friends; fate of Jewish friends. Recollections of period as refugee in GB, 1939-1940: emigration to GB, 3/1939; employment at Bloomsbury House; initial impressions of GB.
REEL 3 Continues: work at Bloomsbury House; employment at cinema projectionist in Liverpool, 6/1939; attending tribunal and classification as Category C Enemy Alien; outbreak of Second World War, 3/9/1939; escaping internment through intervention of Otto Schiff. Aspects of period as private with No 219 Coy, Pioneer Corps in GB, 1940-1943: volunteering for military service, 8/1940; duties with corps; types of individuals serving in corps; attitude towards service in Pioneer Corps; changing name. Aspects of period as driver mechanic with Royal Tank Regt in GB and India, 1943-1945: volunteering for Royal Tank Corps, 1943; journey to India, 11/1943; contracting hepatitis and medical down grading. Aspects as NCO with General Headquarters India in New Delhi, India, 1944-1946: background to posting; attitude to service in New Delhi; victory parade in New Delhi, 5/1945; contact with parents; lack of anti-Semitism in British Army. Aspects of civilian life in GB, 1946-1948: work in bakery; meeting future wife Susan; contracting polio, 1947.
REEL 4 Continues: physical and psychological effects of polio; wife Susan Sinclair's experiences in Germany and as refugee in GB; reunion with mother whilst in hospital, 1948; importance of marrying a Jewish girl. Reflections on Holocaust experience: attitude towards Germany and Germans; question of effects of experiences; telling children about experiences; importance of recording experiences; attitude towards creation of state of Israel, 1948; attitude towards treatment as refugee on arrival in GB, 1939.